Secret or Misconception?
by KlonoaDreams
Summary: AU Jaden Yuki goes through life at Duel Academy…however, not all is what Jaden seems to be. Why do the guys feel awkward around Jaden? Is this Osiris Red holding a secret? Is it really a secret when all you actually had to do was ask? Fem!Jaden fic with a side of unintentional reverse-harem. DON'T ASK ABOUT PAIRINGS. It's too early for romance. HIATUS!
1. Turn 01

A/N Just another story…that's not _Kingdom Hearts_ or _Pokémon_! Unbelievable! Ahem, but not probable. Aside from that, I better get the disclaimer up since I don't want to be sued.

_**DISCLAIMER FOR WHOLE STORY: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or any of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Series at all! The rights to this anime (haven't read the manga, but I'll get to it!) I grew up to belong to **__**Kazuki Takahashi**__**, who I am NOT!**_

If I DID own it… d'you think I'd be writing this fan fiction? Plus, I'd be one rich bitch who didn't have to do chores and worry about losing this laptop to my brother, who happens to OWN it. I'll be attempting to use honorifics…don't you dare gasp! I supposed to do that! Hmph…ahem…Gasp! Okay, NOW you can gasp.

Anyways…I'll give the summary.

Just your basic fan fiction of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX told after the first episode…or is it! You say, "Is it?" I say "NO!" You say how, I'll say AU!

Jaden Yuki goes through life at Duel Academy…however, not all is what Jaden seems to be. Why do the guys feel awkward around Jaden? Is this Osiris Red holding a secret? Is it really a secret when all you actually had to do was ask? Who knows! Secret or misconception…which one is it? You'll have to find out!

Just for the heck of it…I'm adding the manga prologue for reasons I happen to not know of!

_

* * *

_

A solitary island floats in the Southern seas…

_It is there that there is a school for training up-and-coming duelists._

_The name of that school is Duel Academy High School._

_Every grade is divided into three ranks…_

"_Obelisk Blue" for the students who had superior grades in middle school…_

"_Ra Yellow" for the students who did well on their entrance exams…_

_And…_

"_Osiris Red" where students fear for expulsion due to their grades…_

* * *

Chapter One

Enter: Duel Academy

After what seemed to be one hell of an entrance examination for applicants wishing to attend Duel Academy, for those who have passed, were now making their ways towards the Academy itself. Looking through the window on a plane taking the new first years to the Academy was Shou Marufuji, a 15 year-old boy with light blue hair, somewhere around a shade of turquoise and light grey eyes. He wore a pair of circular-lensed glasses and a blue jacket with pants of the same color. Sitting next to him was his newly made friend, Jaden Yuki, who was currently asleep with his hands behind his head.

Jaden Yuki was a boy Shou's age. He had short, brown hair with a splotch of light brown, almost caramel, on the top of his head with bangs that framed his face. His eyes, which happened to be positioned directly beneath his bangs, were closed at the moment seeing as the boy was asleep, making it hard to distinguish his eye color.

Shou, having gone through some anxiety through the entrance exam, was more than relieved once the exams were over. The same might have not applied to his friend, though seeing as the only thing he had to worry about was being late for his exam. The bluenette let out a sigh as he glanced over at Jaden, who was still asleep.

Just as he was about to go back to looking through the window, a voice on the intercom caught his and the rest of the students on board's attention.

**"Attention first-years, if you look outside your windows, you'll see your new home away from home," **said the voice.

Shou quickly turned to his windows to get a good view, anticipation getting to him like the rest of the students on the plane.

**"Now, now, I know you're excited, but don't shove," **the voice said. **"Now then, fasten your seatbelts and sit in an—"**

Shou blocked out the intercom as he glanced over at Jaden, his friend still asleep. Realizing that they were almost at the academy, Shou sighed and decided to help the brunette out by fastening his seatbelt and attempted to make him sit at an upright position. Soon after, Shou did the same to himself as the intercom spoke up again.

**"Next stop, Academy Island," **said the intercom.

Shou smiled, eager to land already. Thoughts on the academy popped up into his head once more. He snapped out of them the moment he felt a strange weight leaning onto his shoulder. When he turned to see who it was, he sweat dropped. It was Jaden, having still been asleep, the brunette ended up leaning against Shou's shoulder unintentionally.

Shou sighed as his friend continued to sleep on as the plane began to land. It was somewhat awkward for some reason to the blue-haired boy.

Sometime later within the Main Academy Building, the new students (AKA, freshmen or first-years) were lined up, facing a large rectangular screen with the Academy's insignia. All were wearing one of three colored blazers each, some students had yellow, few blue, and about most of them, red, which included Shou.

The screen made a small sound as an image of a man with a red-colored jacket appeared on the monitor. He wore a big smile as he welcomed the new academy students.

**"Welcome, Dueling Elites," **he said. **"I'm Samejima, the headmaster here. You all used your skills to open the narrow admission gates."**

Shou listened to the headmaster closely, getting the feeling that he was going to be asked what he said sometime later by Jaden, who was standing right behind the bluenette, asleep and breathing softly as a small nose bubble deflated and inflated out of one of his nostrils. Shou sighed.

"_At least he's not snoring…"_ thought Shou.

The headmaster continued on with his speech of some sort.

**"Please have fun studying—" **Samejima continued.

As Samejima was talking, Jaden suddenly woke up wide-eyed right after his nose bubble popped.

**"—in hopes of becoming the next King of…" **Samejima was cut off as a loud shriek interrupted him.

The shriek came directly from Jaden, surprising Shou as he was right in front of the brunette.

"Damn it!" shrieked Jaden. "My Elemental Heroes have been annihilated!"

**"…Games?" **finished Samejima.

There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at Jaden, who had his hands on his head until he realized he was being stared at. He looked at everyone awkwardly before stopping at Shou. Shou didn't know what to say, however, he, like the rest of the students tried not to laugh. No, really, they tried not to laugh…though, resistance was futile as one small 'pfft' from a snicker caused everyone to burst into laughter…including the headmaster. There was a small select few of which who didn't laugh at Jaden's outburst, one included a neat, black-haired boy with brown eyes in a yellow blazer.

The boy was Daichi Misawa, an acquaintance of some sorts of Jaden and Shou. Somewhat older than them by almost a year and more on the tall side (also the owner of a British accent), he sighed at the immaturity of the students and the headmaster. Though aside from that, he was intrigued with Jaden, taking a slight interest in the younger boy.

"_Things might just be interesting with him around,"_ thought Daichi.

A/N This moment was based on the first episode of _Lovely Complex_ when Risa let out an outburst similar to Jaden's (summon monsters) that caused her summer school. Man, I love that anime and manga…heh, tall girl, short boy, romantic school comedy…it has everything you want in it! Well, in my preferences.

Samejima, having stopped laughing, smiled at the students.

**"Well, I'd say that's a good start!" **he said. **"Now, I won't bore you anymore with my talking, so you may go to your assigned dorms and get settled in. I'll think you'll find them quite comfortable…depending on how you ranked, of course!"**

Samejima laughed and dismissed the students. Just as they were about to exit the building, the headmaster spoke.

**"Just a minute," **said Samejima. **"Professor Chronos, will you escort Jaden Yuki to my office? There are some things I need to discuss about."**

Shou could swear he felt the wrath of the blonde-haired professor, who wore crescent-shaped earrings, a blue jacket with gold trimmings and a pink ruffled collar, emanating at the mention of the name 'Jaden'. The same did not apply to Jaden, oblivious of how the professor felt about him.

"I'll meet up with you later, 'kay?" Jaden told Shou.

Shou nodded and watched as Jaden walked over to the blonde professor.

Moments later, Jaden followed Professor Chronos down a hall as he had his hands behind his head. Professor Chronos gritted his teeth having to escort the happy-go-lucky boy. Having been defeated (and not to mention humiliated) by him during the exams, Professor Chronos held a grudge against the boy for that exact reason. Although, there was one side of him that was completely filled with joy having been there when the brown-haired boy let out his outburst during the headmaster's speech, there was a chance that Jaden was being called up on for that exact reason. The word expulsion echoed in Professor Chronos's head as he laughed mentally.

Jaden yawned loudly, tears welding up in his eyes as he shut his eyes and opened his mouth wide to take a deep breath, not noticing Professor Chronos's annoyance at his actions. He rubbed his eyes as the professor's eye twitched slightly from a certain thought that came into mind. Professor Chronos found Jaden's motion rather annoying, though almost cute. Almost until he realized who he was thinking about and immediately began to ignore the boy's presence.

A/N Awkward!

He continued to do that until he and Jaden reached the entrance to Samejima's office. With a small wave at the professor, Jaden smiled and ran up to the headmaster, who was currently sitting by his desk, papers in his hands.

Samejima greeted the boy and quickly began to bring up the topic of his discussion.

"Jaden, I received a call from your father," said Samejima.

Jaden groaned inwardly and sighed.

"What is it?" he asked.

Samejima laid out the papers in his hands onto his desk.

"It's about your registration form," Samejima answered. "There has been a mistake, care to explain this?"

Samejima handed Jaden a paper, the brunette quickly skimming through it and stopping on the certain spot where the supposed mistake was. He grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, ya see," said Jaden. "I was in a hurry to check in so yeah… I'm rather used to this…"

A/N Explanation left out seeing as it's explained in the next chapter. However, there are hints (obvious ones) on what the mistake is.

Samejima sweat dropped as Jaden laughed. He sighed.

"Aside from that, it's going to take a while to fix this mistake," said Samejima. "As for your assigned dorm…"

"Can you mind letting me stay in the same dorm Shou Marufuji is staying in?" asked Jaden. "I'd rather stick close to my friend."

Samejima stared at Jaden for a few moments, a thought popping up in mind. He nodded.

"Very well," said Samejima. "You may…though your current room will be temporary. You'll get your official room in a few weeks."

Jaden nodded and held up his hand.

"Hey, question," said Jaden. "Can I keep the uniform?"

Samejima raised an eyebrow as he looked over Jaden's uniform (which actually just consisted of a jacket...and the rest is just his own clothes). Jaden's jacket was a bit big on him…especially the sleeves, but he quickly fixed that by folding up his sleeves.

"You don't another that's more suitable to your size?" asked Samejima.

Jaden shook his head.

"Nope," he said. "I'd rather keep this one. It's rather comfy."

Samejima nodded and took the paper handed to him from Jaden.

"Very well, you may go," said Samejima.

Jaden nodded and proceeded to walk out of Samejima's office and past Professor Chronos. Professor Chronos, curiosity getting the better of him, walked over to Samejima.

"What was that about?" he asked.

Samejima straightened up Jaden's papers as he sighed.

"Oh, nothing," said Samejima. "Just a little mistake with the registration forms."

Professor Chronos crossed his arms.

"May I ask what it was?" asked Professor Chronos.

Samejima nodded.

"You may," he answered.

A few moments later as Jaden dashed out of the building, a loud exclamation of surprise echoed through the halls. Jaden didn't hear any of it having just exited and spotting his friend Shou sitting on a pedestal of some sort a few feet outside the building looking on his PDA. Smiling, Jaden rushed over to Shou and tapped on his shoulders.

Shou looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Jaden," said Shou. "What was all that about?"

Jaden shrugged and walked over to the opposite side of the pedestal Shou was sitting on. After sitting back down, he took out his PDA.

"Just a small mistake on the registration form," said Jaden. "So…Hey! I'm in the Osiris Red Dorm! What about you?"

Jaden looked over at Shou. Shou looked up.

"I'm in Red, too," said Shou.

As Shou and Jaden were talking, their acquaintance Daichi Misawa walked by. Jaden looked at him, noticing the jacket's similarity to his and Shou's, the only thing it differed in was the color scheme, which was yellow. Curiously, Jaden wanted to ask a question, but before that…

"Hey!" said Jaden.

Daichi stopped walking and turned his head, now looking at both Jaden and Shou.

"You in Red, too?" asked Jaden.

Daichi sighed inwardly and looked at his uniform to give Jaden a simple (and not to mention, obvious) answer. Jaden blinked in question.

"Well, now let's see," said Daichi. "Yellow sleeves, yellow buttons…I don't think so. This is a Ra Yellow uniform."

Jaden looked at his red jacket.

"Ohh, so it depends on the uniform…" said Jaden.

Daichi looked at Jaden somewhat concerned.

"Please don't tell me that you just figured that out now," said Daichi.

Jaden glared at Daichi, a small blush wanting to tinge his cheeks in slight embarrassment.

"So what!" snapped Jaden. "Ever think I'm might be on the slow side? Maybe color blind?"

Daichi, a bit taken aback from the remark, looked at Jaden apologetically.

"Um, no, actually, I didn't," he said. "Sorry…so, are you, Ichiban-kun?"

Jaden smiled and shook his head, chuckling a bit. Daichi sighed and started to walk away.

"Nope!" said Jaden. "See you around the dorms!"

Daichi stopped and looked back, smirking as Jaden wave at him.

"I doubt that, your dorm's over there," he said, direction the Osiris Red duo to their appointed dorms.

Shou and Jaden looked at the direction Daichi directed them at. Moments later, the duo made their way towards their dorm with their bags. Once they reached their dorms, Shou frowned as he realized their dorms resembled that of an apartment building…a rather run-down looking one to boot. He walked up the stairs and looked to the side to look at Jaden, who happened to be intrigued with the ocean (which happened to be close by the dorm).

Jaden's hands gripped the rail as his brown eyes sparkled in awe at the view. Shou sighed and looked over the dorm again.

"What is _this_?" he asked. "Is the Osiris Red dorm the only dorm that sucks?"

Jaden turned his head and smiled at Shou.

"Oh, yeah?" asked Jaden. "This place has a great view, and you can feel the breeze! This place is great! It's got appeal!"

Shou sighed, somewhat envious with Jaden's optimism.

"So where's our room?" asked Shou. _"We've only just met and we're already rooming with each other…"_

Jaden picked up his bag and started to make his way past his friend towards a room. He stopped in front of a door and smiled ecstatically.

"This is it!" said Jaden. "This is it! This is our room!"

Jaden opened the door to his and Shou's room. The room brightened up once the door was opened. Shou picked up his bag and peeked into the room.

"We're in the same room, huh?" said Shou.

Jaden shook his head.

"Not for long," said Jaden.

Shou tiled his head to the side as he and Jaden entered the room. Jaden wowed and looked around, dropping his bag onto the soft, carpeted floor.

"Whoa…this room is surprisingly small, but there's enough room to live one!" said Jaden. "Kinda like my room only without the mess! I could get used to living in a place like home! I call top bunk!"

Shou smiled at Jaden's antics and the fact that they were rooming together.

"With us living together, we must be linked together by fate or something!" Shou said as Jaden walked over to the window. "Maybe we're reincarnations of the Pharaoh and Priest Seto from ancient Egypt! Your entry exam duel was so cool… Can I call you Pharaoh, Jaden-kun?"

Jaden stopped walking and shook his head.

"Nope, it sounds too weird," said Jaden. "And thank you!"

Jaden ruffled Shou's hair as he shrugged.

"How about Aniki?" he suggested.

Jaden blinked.

"There's no social standing among duelists, just rivals," said Jaden. "Besides, I'm fine with just Jaden."

Shou looked down.

"But it really suits you…" Shou said, sighing.

Jaden smiled awkwardly and scratched the side of his head idly with his finger.

"Go figure…" said Jaden. "From now on, let's work together towards becoming the King of Games…but first!"

Jaden grabbed a green curtain and opened it, bright light from the sun immediately brightening the room.

"My eyes!" said a voice. "So… bright…shut the damn curtains! They were closed for a reason!"

Jaden flinched and smiled awkwardly, closing the curtains immediately by request. He and Shou looked at the bunk beds, wondering if anyone was there.

"Is someone here?" asked Shou.

Jaden rubbed the back of his head as he noticed someone took the top bunk as they moved under the covers.

"S-Sorry, I didn't notice you," he apologized. _"And they already called first dibs on top bunk…ah, well. I'll call bottom!"_

The person in bed, obviously a boy due to his deep voice, spoke again.

"So a couple of new students full of dreams, huh?" he asked.

Shou and Jaden looked at each other before focusing their gaze at the top bunk. The person residing on the top bunk pulled off the covers and turned to the side to look at his new roommates. Jaden and Shou looked closely at the boy, who was about 16 or 17 (give or take) and on the big side (by big side I don't mean fat!). He had brown eyes, black hair, and a big nose.

Jaden and Shou stared at the older boy, taking in how his build, face, and hairstyle resembled that of a koala's. A silhouette of a koala-themed duel monster appeared in the boy, showing a shocking resemblance. The duo both shrieked and embraced each other as they stared at the boy wide-eyed.

"Death Koala!" they yelled.

The koala-resembling boy glared and held up a fist at the startled duo.

"Don't call me a koala!" he snapped. "I'm your roommate, Hayato Maeda!"

Jaden let go of Shou and laughed awkwardly. He pointed at himself as he introduced himself to the older boy.

"Sorry, I'm Jaden Yuki!" Jaden said, smiling awkwardly at Hayato.

Shou nodded and introduced himself as well.

"I'm Shou Marufuji," he said.

With those introductions done, Hayato turned onto his side in his bed, his back now facing the duo.

"Do either of you know what the 'Red' in 'Osiris Red' means?" Hayato asked.

Jaden blinked and said, "Sure don't."

"Does it have some sort of meaning?" asked Shou.

Hayato looked over his shoulder at the duo.

"'Red' is Red-Zone," he answered. "It means we're all a chancy bunch. In Duel Academy, you're split into three dorms depending on your grades: Obelisk Blue, Ra Yellow, and Osiris Red."

A/N Feel free to imagine the chibi simulation they gave out in the anime. Heh heh, chibi…

"Obelisk Blue is occupied by the high-achievers from the middle school," explained Hayato. "And those who got in by taking the high school exam, those with excellent results, are first assigned to Ra Yellow."

Shou nodded.

"Then, what's Osiris Red?" asked Shou.

"It's a beat-up gathering place for the dropouts with horrible grades," Hayato finished, turning in bed so he was now on his back.

Shou sweat dropped as Hayato looked over at him and Jaden.

"Do you get it?" Hayato asked, turning in bed again, his back to his roommates. "Those that have been sent here never had a future from the get-go."

Shou frowned and sighed.

~later~

Shou let out another sigh as he walked with Jaden around the school. Jaden looked at Shou.

"You're _still_ feeling down?" asked Jaden.

Shou diverted his eyes at Jaden.

"It's thanks to what he said," said Shou.

Jaden looked ahead and smiled.

"But, I really like Red," Jaden said, holding up a tightened fist. "Seething flames…boiling blood… It's perfect for a zealous guy like me! …Okay, I can do without the blood."

Both Shou and Jaden stopped walking as they looked at each other.

"And besides, nothing's started yet," said Jaden. "We start everything now, don't we?"

Shou nodded.

"Y-You're right…" Shou said, holding up both of his fists in front of his chest. He looked out, imaginary flames emanating from behind him. "You're right! What's the point of feeling down now? Give it your all, me! Fight! Hang tough!"

Jaden blinked and walked away from Shou, having felt something that intrigued him. The imaginary flames on Shou went out as Jaden broke into a run, unbeknownst to the blue-haired boy, seeing as he was still giving his monologue.

"It was cowardly of me to get all depressed before anything actually started, Aniki!" Shou said, turning to look at Jaden.

Shou sweat dropped as he watched Jaden run towards the Main Academy Building. Realizing he was left behind, Shou dashed towards Jaden.

"Wait up!" he yelled. "What's going on?"

Jaden didn't bother looking back as he answered.

"There are people dueling somewhere!" said Jaden.

Shou picked up the pace, confused with what Jaden said.

"I can't hear anything like that at all!" Shou said.

Some moments later, the duo was in the building, currently walking down a hall. Jaden looked around for something, which was the duel he said was supposedly going on at the moment. How he knew, was what Shou wanted to know.

"Let's see…" said Jaden. "I'm pretty sure it's over here."

Shou panted as he tried to catch his breath. Jaden was really a fast runner, which made it harder for Shou to catch up.

"How do you know that, Aniki?" Shou asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Jaden stopped right in the middle of the hallway and breathed in through his nose.

"I smell it," answered Jaden. He looked around and smiled widely. "…I smelled it! That's the scent of a duel!"

* * *

A/N The way Jaden acts right now, he reminds me so much of Goku from _Dragon Ball_ I mean I'll place out the similarities that were pointed out on YouTube. They're both dumb…well, naïve cuz I mean Goku thought marriage was food and Judai (Jaden) had no clue what 'fiancée' meant…moving on! They're optimistic, and ignorant, and they both never give up. I'm not bashing them or anything, I actually like these traits because it's who they really are.  
Also, Goku loves fighting more than anyone in _Dragon Ball_, whereas Judai loves dueling more than anyone in _Yu-Gi-Oh! GX_. They also both use their sense of smell to find things (Goku recognizing people and objects by their smell, and Judai "smelling" the scent of the duel). See the point proven? I did!

* * *

With that said, Jaden took a left turn, leaving Shou rather perplexed.

"Huh…?" said Shou. "Did you say 'scent of a duel'…? Hey!"

Shou watched Jaden as he entered a room.

"Is it all right to just barge there?" Shou asked.

Jaden didn't answer as he looked around the room, taking in the scenery of some sorts.

"Wow!" said Jaden. "Awesome!"

Shou ran up and stopped by Jaden's side. He soon did the same thing as Jaden, amazed at the duel field within the room.

"This Duel Field is installed with the latest equipment!" said Shou. "The sound equipment and the virtual system are all-new versions! Man, I am jealous…I'd sure like to duel in a place like this."

Jaden smiled and looked at Shou, unbeknownst to both of them that they had been heard.

"All right!" said Jaden. "Then let's do it!"

Shou blinked owlishly.

"Huh?" he asked. "I wonder if we can…"

"What are you talking about?" Jaden asked. "We're students here!"

"Which doesn't give you reason to do so," said a voice.

Shou and Jaden looked up, spotting two boys, both wearing blue jackets, walking towards them. One had dark, teal-colored hair a small rectangular glasses while the other boy had brown, spiky hair.

"You Osiris Red dropout boys don't belong here," said the brown-haired boy. "Look above you."

Jaden and Shou looked back, seeing a crest on the top of the entranceway.

"Didn't you see the Obelisk's crest?" asked the teal-haired boy.

Shou turned around and apologized to the Obelisk Blue boys. He looked at Jaden, who continued to stare at the crest.

"S-Sorry, we didn't know," said Shou. "Let's go back to our dorm, Aniki."

Jaden turned around and scratched the side of his head idly with his finger. Shou noted that Jaden looked rather naïve and got a rather bad feeling.

"Hmm…that somehow doesn't sit well with me…" Jaden said, smiling at the boys before pointing at them. "Well then, you wanna play me? That'd be okay, right?"

Jaden smiled at the guys, Shou sighing.

"_I had a feeling he'd say that…"_ Shou thought.

Both the Obelisk Blue students, Taiyou Torimaki (teal-haired boy) and Raizou Mototani (spiky brown-haired boy), stared at Jaden. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Raizou's face as Taiyou's eyes widened.

"I thought I'd recognized you!" said Taiyou.

"Oi, Manjoume-san!" said Raizou. "It's the applicant who beat Professor Chronos!"

A few seconds had passed when a boy with sorta spiky black hair walked up into view. He stared at Jaden and Shou with his greenish-black eyes, looking rather miffed. The boy looked around the Osiris duo's age and wore a blue jacket.

Shou looked nervously at the boy, while Jaden was the complete opposite of him. The brown-haired Osiris waved at the Obelisk Blue as he wore a big smile.

"Hi, I'm Jaden Yuki!" said Jaden. "Nice to meetcha!"

Taiyou, Raizou, and Shou stared at Jaden as he asked them a question.

"So, uh…who's he?" Jaden asked.

The boy overheard Jaden's questioned and growled, gritting his teeth as he glared at the Osiris Red, a naïve simpleton in his opinion.

Taiyou answered Jaden's question.

"You mean you don't know who Manjoume-san is?" asked Taiyou. "He's a first-year like us, but he's Number 1 of the Super Elites, tried-and-true from the middle school!"

Raizou nodded.

"He's the much-talked about future King of Games, the great Jun Manjoume!" he said.

Jaden diverted his eyes and snorted.

"Bull," scoffed Jaden.

Raizou blinked and looked at Jaden questioningly.

"What is?" Raizou asked.

Jaden looked at the Obelisk Blue with a smile.

"I mean, the King of Games is Number 1, right?" asked Jaden. "I'm this Academy's Number 1, after all!"

Both Obelisk Blue students looked at Jaden for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. Apparently, whatever Jaden said wasn't taken seriously. Taiyou and Raizou both narrowed their eyes at Jaden.

"You Osiris Reds don't know your place, do you?" Taiyou asked.

Jaden growled at Taiyou and was about to snap at him, however, Manjoume beat him to the punch.

"Be quiet!" snapped Manjoume. "Everyone, just calm down."

The four boys looked at Manjoume.

"Manjoume-san?" said Taiyou.

Manjoume looked at them with a serious expression.

"That guy is better than the two of you," he said. "He's the guy who supposedly beat Professor Chronos in his entry exam duel, albeit he did it sloppily."

Jaden smiled as memories of that exact duel popped up into mind. He held up his fist.

"That was _skill_," said Jaden.

Manjoume snickered.

"I'd like to see this _skill _for myself now," said Manjoume.

Jaden smiled.

"Fine by me," said Jaden.

"Hey, what are all of you doing?" asked a voice.

Jaden, Shou, Manjoume, and the other two boys looked at who spoke as they walked toward them. It was a girl wearing the Obelisk Blue girls' uniform, about 15 and slightly taller than Jaden with long, dark blonde hair and light brown eyes. She was staring at the boys as she crossed her arms under her well-endowed chest.

Shou sighed and blushed slightly at the sight of the girl.

"Wow!" he said quietly. "She's pretty!"

Manjoume grinned.

"Tenjoin-kun!" said Manjoume. "You see, these newcomers are far too ignorant of the ways of the world."

He turned his head and kept his grin.

"I was thinking I'd teach them a bit about how intense the Academy can be," said Manjoume.

The girl kept her gaze on Manjoume.

"It's about time for the welcoming party at the dorms to start," said the girl.

Manjoume grunted and ordered Taiyou and Raizou to follow after him. After leaving, the girl looked at Jaden and Shou.

"You guys shouldn't take up dares from Manjoume-kun and his group," she warned them. "After all, they're a lousy bunch."

Jaden blinked owlishly and smiled at the girl.

"For you to take the time to tell us that…" Jaden said, grinning and pointing at himself. "Could you have fallen in love with me at first sight?"

Shou looked at Jaden strangely.

"Aniki!" he said. "That's impossible!"

Jaden laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Relax, I was only kidding!" said Jaden.

The girl looked at Jaden and laughed. She looked at him again and smiled.

"The welcoming party at Osiris Red will be starting, as well," she said.

Jaden looked at Shou.

"You're right!" said Jaden. "Let's get back to the dorms!

Jaden broke into a run, leaving Shou surprised and somewhat behind. Shou called after him, not wanting to be left behind.

"W-Wait up, Aniki!" he called.

Jaden slid to a stop and quickly turned around, running in place.

"Oh right, what's your name?" he asked the girl.

The girl blinked and smiled.

"Asuka Tenjoin," she answered.

Jaden nodded and introduced himself.

"Jaden Yuki, nice to meetcha!" said Jaden, waving afterward and breaking into a full run.

Shou sighed and ran after him.

"Boy, are you ever slick…" Shou sighed.

Asuka watched the two boys run, smiling at Jaden.

"Jaden…" Asuka said to herself.

~meanwhile within all the dorms~

The Obelisk Blue dorms had an elegant party in both the boys' and girls' dormitories. Whilst in the Ra Yellow, it was somewhat the same only around a table of exquisite food. As for in the Osiris Red…well…

The Osiris dorm had a few strange looks at their food, which consisted of a bow of white rice, a plate full of what seemed to be some type of small fish (probably sardines or something), and two other bowls of food, though they didn't get much of the strange stares seeing as everyone had their gaze on the rice and fish.

"What is _this_?" about almost everyone in the room said.

One person compared the food to the other dorms.

"The other dorms had an incredible feast!" he said. "And to make things worse, our dorm leader isn't even human!"

Everyone focused their gaze on a fat cat with light brown, somewhat orange-tinged, fur and dark stripes curled up on a table, asleep. He woke up and stretched out, letting out a loud yowl. Afterwards, it curled back onto the table, everyone's gaze still focused on it.

"He's a cat…?" asked another boy.

The cat looked at everyone as the sound of footsteps caught their attention. The sound of footsteps seemed to be getting closer until a tall, young man, wearing a white shirt (dress shirt if you want specifications) with a dusky-red necktie, black pants, and a belt, popped out from behind the drapes hanging over the doorway. He seemed to be somewhere between his mid-twenties or so and had a kind-looking expression and long black hair pulled into a ponytail with his bangs framing his face. His eyes were hid behind their lids and the square-lensed glasses the man wore.

Everyone within the room stared at the man with question. The man waved at them welcomingly.

"Hello, children," he said, having a German accent. "I'm your dormitory leader, Daitokuji-nya! And in class, I'll be in charge of alchemy. Pleased to meet you all-nya."

"Delicious!" someone exclaimed.

The outburst caused everyone, and I mean everyone, to focus their attention on them, which had happened to be on Jaden. Jaden, being impatient and too hungry to wait had already begun to eat his food. Shou looked at him anxiously.

"T-That's tasteless, Aniki," he said.

Jaden stopped his chewing and looked at Shou questioningly.

"Really?" asked Jaden. "It's awfully delicious to me!"

Jaden picked up a fish with his chopsticks and placed it in his mouth as if to prove his point. Shou sighed and continued to stare at Jaden as the boy continued eating.

"T-That's not what I meant…" said Shou. "The Professor's still introducing himself…"

Unbeknownst to them, Daitokuji had already had his eye on Jaden from when he first let out his outburst. Having known from Samejima about the mistake on the boy's registration and dorm request, he gave a small smile and started to walk over them. He stopped once he was in front of the boys' table. Shou looked nervously at the professor, Jaden still clueless, placed another fish in his mouth. It took him only a few seconds to realize why Shou was quiet. When he looked up, fish partially in his mouth and partially hanging out, he knew why.

Jaden sweat dropped as Daitokuji looked down at him, hands behind his back, with a smile. The professor chuckled a bit at the look Jaden gave him, which he found rather cute and decided to ruffle the boy's hair, not being able to resist. Jaden blinked and chewed on his fish, staring questioningly at the dorm head like the rest of the Osiris Red residents.

"Don't mind a bit-nya," said Daitokuji. "Well, everyone, from now on, make yourselves at home-nya."

Sometime afterward once everyone had eaten and gone to their rooms, Daitokuji made his way towards a specific room in the dorm.

Meanwhile in said specific room, Shou poured hot tea into three mugs as Jaden talked with a content sigh.

"Man, I am full!" Jaden said, satisfied.

Shou smiled as he continued to pour tea into the mugs. Jaden, sitting on the carpet and leaning back against the wall, let out another sigh as he rubbed his full stomach.

"I'm stuffed," he said. "Why didn't you eat all of yours?"

Shou placed the teapot down and looked back at Jaden with a smile.

"You were the only one who got a second helping, huh?" Shou said, picking up the tray holding the three tea-filled mugs.

Jaden grinned as he sat himself up-right against the wall as Shou handed the brown-haired boy his respective mug.

"It was pretty good!" Jaden said, taking the mug. "Thank you!"

Shou nodded and looked up at Hayato, wanting to offer him tea.

"Hayato-kun!" said Shou. "Tea?"

Hayato turned in bed.

"I don't want any," said Hayato.

Shou blinked, ceasing his smile.

"Oh, okay…" he said.

Jaden looked up at Hayato, blinking owlishly.

"And why not?" asked Jaden. "Shou went to all that trouble to brew it up and everything!"

Shou waved it off.

"It okay, Aniki," Shou reassured.

Hayato, his face buried into his pillow, spoke.

"It's not that he's a bad cook or anything," Hayato explained. "I'm depressed about our predicament, so I haven't been able to swallow a bite of food."

As Jaden and Shou were wondering what predicament Hayato mentioned, Jaden's PDA rang, alerting said owner of a message of some sort. Blinking, Jaden pulled up his shirt slightly to look for the pouch on his hip containing his PDA. He took it out of its pouch and looked at it, seeing that he got a message.

"Hey, it's from Manjoume!" said Jaden.

Jaden pressed a button and the message, a small video message from Manjoume, began to play.

**"Yo, dropout boy,"** said Manjoume. **"I'll be waiting on the Duel field at midnight. We'll duel with the Ante Rule with both of our best cads at stake. Come on, if you've got the guts…"**

With that said, the video message was over. Jaden gave a small laugh and smiled.

"Things have gotten interesting!" Jaden said with a grin.

Hayato, having overheard the whole message, looked over his shoulder at Jaden.

"That pep of his ends here…" he said, rolling onto his side to get more comfortable.

Jaden smiled brightly and went to get his duel disk before grabbing onto Shou's hand.

"C'mon, Shou!" Jaden said, beginning to drag the poor boy with him towards the door.

"Wait, Aniki!" said Shou. "Didn't Asuka-san say we shouldn't deal with them?"

Jaden looked at Shou as he grabbed onto the doorknob.

"What are you talking about?" Jaden asked, turning the knob and beginning to push it open. "This is a duel! A real duelist should accept any challenge delivered to him…"

Jaden paused and added, "…or her."

Shou looked down at the floor.

"But…" he said, trailing off after looking at Jaden.

Jaden closed his eyes and grinned as he began to make his way out…only to bump into someone who had happened to be standing right outside the door. Jaden yelped and let go of Shou's hand to try and regain his balance, having losing it from bumping into someone. Thankfully, the person he bumped into helped him out by grabbing onto his outstretched hand.

"Careful," he said. "Wouldn't want you to fall and hurt yourself, now would we-nya."

Jaden laughed and rubbed the back of his head as he was adjusted into a standing position.

"Thanks!" said Jaden. "Sorry about bumping into you, Daitokuji."

Daitokuji nodded and smiled.

"Not a problem…now what's this about an Ante Rule duel in the duel fields at midnight?" he asked.

Jaden froze and looked up at Daitokuji, having been a good amount of height shorter than him. The professor looked down at Jaden, keeping his smile.

"You should know that Ante Rule dueling is prohibited in this Academy," said the professor. "And the rules say no off-hour arena duels. What would your father think…especially if he finds out you got into trouble for sneaking out of your dorm at midnight to duel a fellow student, a male one no less-nya?"

Jaden was taken aback from what the professor had told him. He had no idea there were rules about that and if his father ever found out about that… Jaden gulped and placed his hands on his head.

"He'll take me out of Duel Academy if he finds out!" Jaden wailed.

Daitokuji nodded, noticing the perplexed looked on Hayato, having watched the whole thing out of pure interest, and Shou, having been concerned for Jaden. Seeing as it was just Jaden's first day here, Daitokuji smiled and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Since it's just your first day here, you'd probably didn't have enough time to read the rules," said Daitokuji. "And because first impressions are always important, I'll let it slide-nya."

Jaden blinked and took his hands off his head to look at the professor, surprised. Hayato and Shou looked at Daitokuji, surprised as well.

"Really!" he asked eagerly.

Daitokuji nodded and moved to the side to let Jaden go.

"Of course, just don't get caught you two," said the professor.

Shou blinked owlishly as Jaden pumped his fist into the air.

"Wait…you two?" repeated Shou. "What do you mean by—?"

His question was cut off and answered as Jaden grabbed onto his hand and dragged him out of the room. Daitokuji and Hayato watched as Jaden dragged Shou away. After they were gone, the professor looked at the older Osiris Red student, having noticed his earlier perplexity.

"Yes, what is it?" Daitokuji asked.

~meanwhile~

Jaden continued to run and drag Shou with him…even after having entered the Main Academy Building. It was only until they were close to the duel field when Jaden slowed down his pace and let go of Shou's hand. Shou sighed and followed Jaden, seeing as it was pointless to head back now.

"I can't believe Daitokuji-Sensei let us go, Aniki," said Shou.

Jaden nodded and began to take a left turn as he placed his duel disk onto his left arm.

"Neither did I!" said Jaden. "Boy, that Daitokuji is a nice guy."

Shou nodded and sighed.

"I hope we don't get caught…" he said.

Jaden looked at Shou and waved it off.

"Don't worry!" said Jaden. "We won't get caught as long as I'm aro—"

"Heh, you really came, Number 110," a voice interrupted Jaden.

Jaden and Shou stopped, realizing that they were now in the duel field. They looked around and spotted Manjoume with his group on the center of the room on the platform. Manjoume had his arms crossed, his duel disk on his left arm. Jaden blinked and smiled, holding up his left arm where his duel disk resided.

"I'd have no reason not to come, once I'm told about a duel," Jaden said, beginning to walk towards Manjoume.

Manjoume trailed after Jaden, worried slightly.

"A-Aniki!" he cried out.

A few moments later, Manjoume and Jaden faced each other on the opposite sides of the duel field.

"You're going to show me either the dumb luck or the skill that beat Professor Chronos!" said Manjoume.

Jaden grinned.

"Right!" said Jaden. "And I've wanted to know just how skilled the elites of Duel Academy are."

Manjoume laughed and smirked at Jaden.

"Listen up!" he said. "We'll be using the Ante Rule, putting both our best cards at stake."

Jaden smiled widely, annoying Manjoume slightly with his optimism, but not enough to make the raven-haired elite duelist cease his grin.

"Sure!" said Jaden. "I'm ready for anything!"

Both duelists shifted their duel disk from standby to active mode, shouting out 'Duel!' afterwards to begin the duel. Manjoume took out some cards from his deck as Jaden did likewise.

Manjoume:

LP

4000

Jaden:

LP

4000

"It's my turn first!" Manjoume said, taking out another card from his deck.

After checking the card and his deck hand, Manjoume looked at Jaden and placed the card into play.

"I summon Reborn Zombie in defense mode!" Manjoume said.

A card appeared onto field as a zombie materialized on top of it in a defensive position.

DEF 1600

"I place one card face down and end my turn," Manjoume said as he placed a card face down onto the card platform.

Manjoume stared at Jaden with a small smirk on his face.

"_Duels contain the element of luck as long as there's drawing,"_ Manjoume thought. _"However, what decides a match is a strategy based on careful calculations."_

Manjoume' smirk widened.

"Obelisk Blue against Osiris Red…" he said. "The difference in our intellect has already determined the outcome of this!"

Shou gasped as Jaden looked at Manjoume with a serious expression.

"You can't play a duel in your head!" said Jaden. "My blazing heart will take you on! It's my turn. Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card he just took out. Right on the card was a picture of a muscular, green-clad man with wings.

"_Elemental Hero Avian,"_ he thought, staring into his deck hand and finding the cards he needed as well as a certain one that was given to him on the entrance exam day. "Oh, Partner."

The little adorable (in Jaden's opinion) brown furball with wings Jaden called partner, Winged Kuriboh, responded with a small 'kuri kuri'.

"With lucky old you by my side, I've got nothing to fear," Jaden said to Winged Kuriboh as he held up the card he was going to activate. "I play Polymerization!"

Manjoume ceased his smirking as he stared at Jaden questioningly at who he was going to fuse. Jaden held up a pair of cards in his hands as if answering Manjoume's question.

"I fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix together…" Jaden said as both Avian, a green-clad man with wings, and Burstinatrix, a red-clad flame-manipulating woman, appeared onto the field.

Both Avian and Burstinatrix were soon enveloped in a rotating bright light, which was caused by Polymerization. Jaden tightened his fist as he knew the fusion of Avian and Burstinatrix would give him.

"…to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in attack mode!" he finished.

The light enveloping the two Elemental Heroes flashed brightly and waned, revealing the new Elemental Hero created by the fusions of the previous two Heroes, Flame Wingman.

ATK 2100

Jaden smiled as he held up a card in hand.

"All right!" said Jaden. "This is my favorite card!"

Manjoume smirked.

"I've caught you already, it seems," said Manjoume.

Jaden blinked, a small bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.

"What?" he said, his smile ceasing.

Manjoume's smirk widened.

"I already thoroughly analyzed your entry exam duel," Manjoume explained, raising his voice afterwards to point out, "Duels are all about brains! You seem to lack that."

Jaden growled slightly as Manjoume activated a trap card, Hell Polymer (A/N Like hell I'm spelling the English dub name!). Shou looked at Hell Polymer, going through his head to remember what it did.

"Hell Polymer…?" he said.

"It's basic knowledge to a duelist," a voice interrupted him.

Shou turned around and saw Asuka walking up to him.

"A-Asuka-san," said Shou.

"When your opponent summons a fusion monster, you can gain control of that monster…" Asuka explained as she stopped by Shou. "…by sacrificing one monster on your field."

Shou blinked at Asuka.

"What does that mean?" he asked, turning to the field.

Manjoume smirked as he tightened his fist.

"I sacrifice Reborn Zombie to gain control of Flame Wingman!" Manjoume said, his Reborn Zombie dematerializing from the field as he was sacrificed.

Flame Wingman glowed and disappeared, much to Jaden's dismay.

"Flame Wingman!" said Jaden.

Flame Wingman appeared on Manjoume's side of the field, causing an outburst from Shou.

"His monster got taken!" said Shou.

Manjoume smirked at the look Jaden gave him.

"I knew that a fusion monster finished Professor Chronos off in your duel with him, so I had that trap set," Manjoume explained with a satisfied smirk. "I can't believe that you'd step your way right into my trap, without even knowing that. You're a typical Osiris Red."

Jaden glared at Manjoume as he began to laugh. Fortunately for Jaden, since Flame Wingman was a special summon, he was still able to normal summon this turn. The brown-haired Osiris Red held up his card hand.

"_But don't have any monsters in my hand the ATK or DEF to overcome Flame Wingman,"_ Jaden thought as he looked up from his cards. _"Guess I'll tide things over with a defensive monster."_

Manjoume grinned, satisfied with the ability Flame Wingman had.

"_Flame Wingman is a monster that deals damage equal to the ATK of the monster it destroys,"_ thought Manjoume. _"Whatever he does, he can't go unscathed next turn."_

Jaden played Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode and ended his turn.

DEF 2000

Manjoume drew a card from his deck and played it.

"I summon Hell Soldier (A/N Once again, to hell with the dub name! …no pun intended) in attack mode," Manjoume said, directing his hand at Jaden for his next move. "Go, Flame Wingman! Flame Shoot!"

With a leap into the air, Flame Wingman dived down towards Clayman, enflamed, destroying the Elemental Hero. And due to Flame Wingman's special ability combined with Hell Soldier's (ATK 1200) attack, Jaden lost 2000 life points in total. Jaden fell onto the ground on his knees from the attack. Manjoume placed down a face down and ended his turn.

"Now, it's your turn!" said Manjoume.

Jaden started to do what seemed like he was crying or something of that sort. Manjoume looked at him questioningly.

"Shedding tears of regret, are we, Number 110?" asked Manjoume.

Jaden continued to do what he was doing, but surprised Manjoume once he found out Jaden was actually laughing. Jaden got up from the ground and looked at his opponent with a grin.

"I'm touched!" he said.

Manjoume looked at Jaden perplexed.

"What…?" said Manjoume.

"Duel Academy sure is fun!" Jaden said, keeping his grin. "There's a bunch of guys like you around here, aren't there? This is going to be great!"

Manjoume gritted his teeth.

"What was that?" Manjoume asked.

Jaden drew out a card as Shou and Asuka watched him.

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Sparkman, a man clad in blue with electrical static covering his body, appeared on Jaden's side of the field.

ATK 1600

"Go, Sparkman!" ordered Jaden. "Spark Flash!"

Sparkman charged up his right arm and shot out an electrical beam at Hell Soldier from his finger, destroying Manjoume's monster.

Manjoume:

LP

3600

Smoke engulfed the field as a sword, with a resemblance the one Hell Soldier had, flew up into the air and dived down towards Jaden, going through the boy.

Jaden:

LP

1600

Jaden held his chest in pain from the attack, Manjoume smirking at his pain.

"Its monster effect activates!" said Manjoume. "Hell Soldier has an effect that deals the same damage its player took to the opposing player when it's destroyed!"

Jaden growled as he stared at Manjoume. Shou looked concerned at Jaden, noticing his pain.

"Aniki!" he cried out.

Asuka blinked and gave a small smirk.

"Your big brother is mighty spirited, but pretty careless," said Asuka. "To just disregard a monster effect like that…"

Shou looked at Asuka.

"Jaden-kun isn't my real brother…" he explained.

Asuka blinked and looked at Shou.

"How can you put it…?" Shou said as he tried to find the words he wanted to say. "Well, he's my 'spiritual brother'."

Asuka blinked and looked at Jaden, a small smile forming on her lips.

"_Is that so?"_ she thought.

After one turn, the tables began to turn after Manjoume activated Jaden's trap card, Mirror Gate, which switched the Flame Wingman on Manjoume's side of the field with Jaden's Sparkman. Afterwards, both Elemental Heroes brawled with each other, Flame Wingman coming out victorious and leaving Manjoume with 3100 life points, however, it was far from over. Due to Flame Wingman's special ability, Manjoume lost more life points.

Manjoume:

LP

1500

Shou smiled at Jaden.

"That's my Aniki for you!" he praised.

Asuka looked at Jaden with interest.

"He's pretty good, huh?" said Asuka.

Shou threw his fist into the air.

"You're so cool, Aniki!" Shou exclaimed.

Jaden blinked and gave Shou a V-sign.

A/N Ahem… that would also be known as a peace sign, but this is a V-sign, which is for VICTORY! Anyways, back to story.

Asuka laughed a bit.

"Don't push your luck," said Asuka.

Manjoume glared at Jaden.

"Why you…" said Manjoume. "Don't get too ahead of yourself there, you freaking Osiris Red dropout! I activate the spell card, Hell Blast!"

To make one turn and explanation short (without dialogue), Manjoume had the upper hand once more after activating Hell Blast, which caused Jaden's Flame Wingman to be destroyed and causing him to lose the amount of life points equal to half of his monster's attack points.

Jaden:

LP

550

During that same turn, Manjoume activated the trap card, Cry of the Living Dead (AKA, Call of the Haunted in the dub, only with a better and more kickass name!), making him able to bring back Hell Soldier from the graveyard only for him to summon Hell General Mephisto.

ATK 1800

Manjoume:

LP

1500

Jaden:

LP

550

With a difference of 950 (yes, I did the math) life points, Jaden was good as defeated (in Manjoume's mind).

"One way or the other, it appears I've clinched my win!" Manjoume said, smirking afterwards. "And according to the Ante Rule, I'll take your best card!"

Jaden laughed quietly and grinned.

"We'll see about that," said Jaden.

Manjoume's smirk ceased.

"What?" Manjoume asked, his smirk returning as he realized the outcome. "A duel is determined with 99% intelligence, with luck playing its part a mere 1%."

Jaden looked at his cards as he heard a 'kuri kuri' call out to him. He held his Winged Kuriboh in his hand and smiled.

"Yeah, I know, partner!" Jaden said to Winged Kuriboh, earning a wink from the small furball.

Jaden looked up at Manjoume, deciding to take his chances.

"I'll risk it all on that 1%!" said Jaden. "My draw will call out a miracle!"

Reaching for his deck, Jaden drew a card and looked at it, giving out a small 'All right!' in victory in his thought. However, before Jaden could play it, Asuka overheard the footsteps approaching through the halls. Asuka's eyes widened as she knew who the footsteps belonged to.

"The security guards are coming!" she cried out, both boys halted their duel for the moment. "With the Ante Rule being forbidden by school regulations, and using a facility after hours… you can get expelled for breaking regulations!"

Jaden's eyes widened at the word 'expelled', despite having already known that information. Even so, it still shocked him hearing that again.

"Wha!" said Jaden.

Asuka took out a small pamphlet and held it up.

"Haven't you read the student's rules on your Student Personal Planner?" Asuka asked.

A blush appeared on Manjoume's cheeks as he realized Asuka had been watching his duel.

"_Asuka-san had been watching my duel?"_ Manjoume thought.

Taiyou interrupted Manjoume's thoughts.

"Manjoume-san, this is bad!" he said.

Manjoume scowled and turned, about ready to make his way out.

"That's enough for tonight," said Manjoume. "I'll take care of _my_ win."

Jaden pouted childishly, earning a small stare from Manjoume.

"This match isn't over yet!" complained Jaden.

Like most of the previous actions Jaden had done, the current one he was doing was almost cute…almost being the key word as Manjoume immediately banished that thought from his mind.

"That's plenty," Manjoume sneered. "You've shown me how capable you are."

Manjoume jumped off the platform where he and Jaden had been dueling on with a somewhat satisfied smirk.

"Apparently, your entry exam was just dumb luck," Manjoume said, leaving afterwards with his group.

Jaden growled.

"Quit messing around!" he snapped.

"Aniki, they're gonna find us!" cried Shou.

Asuka looked around and motioned at the Osiris Red duo to follow her.

"Come on, this way!" said Asuka.

Shou nodded.

"Hurry!" he said. "Hurry!"

Jaden growled and crossed his arms.

"No!" Jaden said, refusing in a childish manner. "I won't move from this spooot!"

"Aniki!" whined Shou.

A few moments later, three security guards walked into the darkened room and looked around. It was empty.

Meanwhile outside the Main Academy Building,

Asuka stopped and looked back. She sighed at the sight of Shou having to push Jaden, having done it to get the rebellious Osiris Reed out of the duel field. She leaned back onto the wall.

"For crying out loud, you're quite the hassle, aren't you?" she said.

Jaden looked away.

"Tch, I don't need your opinion…" remarked Jaden.

Shou looked out from behind Jaden, smiling at Asuka.

"Thank you, Asuka-san," said Syrus.

Asuka smiled.

"So how did that harsh ordeal from Obelisk Blue feel?" asked Asuka.

Jaden closed his eyes.

"Okay, I guess," he answered. "But I thought I could've gone on a little longer."

Asuka walked closer to Jaden.

"Is that so?" she asked. "If no one had interfered, you would have lost your most important card due to the Ante Rule right around now, right?"

Jaden grinned.

"Nope, I had that duel won," Jaden said, holding and showing Asuka his card.

Asuka blinked in surprise as Jaden imagined what could have happened.

* * *

~Jaden's imagination~

_Jaden held up the spell card, Monster Reborn, summoning Flame Wingman from the grave. Jaden looked at Manjoume and ordered Flame Wingman to attack._

"_Flame Shoot!" he said._

_Flame Wingman attacked Hell General Mephisto, causing Manjoume to lose all his life points, which made Jaden the winner._

* * *

~back in the real world~

Asuka nodded and watched as Jaden began to walk away. Shou trailed after Jaden, not wanting to be left behind.

"Aniki!" he called out.

Asuka stared at Jaden.

"_That kid's pretty interesting,"_ she thought, a small smile forming on her lips.

Jaden looked to his side and smiled at Shou.

~later~

Daitokuji sat on the ground as Hayato, still in his bed, listened to the professor finish answering the boy's question.

"And that's why Jaden isn't going to be your roommate for very long-nya," finished Daitokuji.

Hayato nodded.

"So, Jaden's getting a separate room in a few weeks…" he said. _"I never would've guessed…"_

Daitokuji nodded and turned his head after hearing the door close. Standing by the door were Jaden and Shou, back from the duel.

"So, how did it go?" Daitokuji asked eagerly.

Jaden blinked and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, we got interrupted by security guards," said Jaden. "So I didn't necessarily finish the duel…"

Shou nodded.

"But Aniki would've won that duel!" said Shou.

Daitokuji smiled and got up from the floor. He walked over to Jaden and Shou.

"So, have you told him yet-nya?" Daitokuji asked Jaden.

Shou blinked owlishly, confused to what the professor was talking about. Hayato, seeing the younger boy's perplexed look, decided to help him out and explain it to him.

"Jaden isn't going to be our roommate very long," explained Hayato.

Shou's eyes widened.

"Eh!" he said, looking at Jaden concerned. "Why not?"

Jaden waved his hands around to compose himself as Shou looked at him with sad eyes.

"Relax, Shou!" said Jaden. "I'm just getting a separate room in a few weeks! It's not like I'm switching dorms or anything…"

Shou sighed in relief and looked at Jaden.

"Oh, I see," said Shou. "I almost thought Aniki was leaving…"

Jaden slapped Shou on the back, though he unintentionally did it roughly. Shou yelped and looked at Jaden.

"Like I would ever leave this dorm!" said Jaden. "Heh! Now that's the understatement of the century! You know I could never leave now that I've made friends!"

Jaden smiled at Shou, who started to laugh a bit. Daitokuji smiled and adjusted his glasses before ruffling Jaden's hair to get his attention. Jaden looked up at Daitokuji, wondering what he wanted.

"Now, to discuss about your current rooming-nya," said Daitokuji. "If you'd like, I'll switch rooms with you for the time being until your room is ready-nya. "

Jaden blinked and smiled.

"That's okay!" he said. "This room's already grown on me a bit! Thanks anyways!"

Daitokuji smiled and nodded.

"Very well, I'll leave you be," Daitokuji said, opening the door. "I'll see you three in class later today-nya."

Jaden, Shou, and Hayato waved at the professor as he exited the room. Daitokuji stopped himself and walked back in.

"By the way, you might want to go to bed now," Daitokuji said. "It's half past one and classes begin in the morning-nya."

With that said, the professor left the room, closing the door behind him. Hayato rolled into a comfortable position in his bed whilst Shou and Jaden took off their shoes…er, I mean, Shou took off his shoes while Jaden kicked his off and dashed over to the bunk beds.

"I call bottom!" Jaden said, diving into the bottom bunk bed.

Shou sighed and turned off the lights before walking over to the bunk beds. As he climbed up the ladder to get into the middle bunk bed, which now belonged to him, he looked down at Jaden, who was already fast asleep. Smiling, Shou whispered a 'goodnight' and got into bed. As he was beginning to fall asleep, a question popped into mind.

"_Why does Aniki need a separate room?"_ Shou thought to himself.

* * *

A/N End of chapter…what? You were expecting an OC from me because of the AU note? Pfft…I could not make an OC for any other category (except for _Kingdom Hearts_) if my life depended on it! And like hell I would do this to any of the _Yu-Gi-Oh_ series! I'm okay with the characters that already exist…yes, even with shippings (read my statement on my opinion on yaoi/shounen-ai on my profile if you want to know). BTW, this chapter continues on to the next one so you don't have to keep reading this A/N Unless you want to.

And as for names…I kept Jaden's dub name since it grew on me! As for the names I didn't keep (which are the dub names)…it took a while, but I finally got them memorized in the few days I have been watching the anime with subs and looking around the wiki.

Also, don't flame me and I know it's exactly what happens on the anime (hell, this is even the first chapter)! I've been working very hard on this and that meant skipping chores (which if I don't do, then this laptop and money for an anime convention goes bye-bye).

Constructive criticism is welcome because I need to know how I suck and how I can fix that so it won't suck…just don't tell me what to do with this story. This is my story and you're not part of it…Did I just quote Auron from _Final-Fantasy X_? Seriously gotta play that game…

Aside from that, be glad it's not one of those clichéd OC stories (god, I hate those) and I hope that Jaden (Judai) and everyone else was in character…please tell me if they're not because I'm very picky about making sure everyone's in character (if they're not, then it was done intentionally for comic relief).


	2. Turn 02

Chapter Two

When Shou Found Out

~later that day~

Asuka answered a question asked to her by Professor Chronos during class. Sitting in the front row seats in the middle section of the class were Jaden and Shou. Asuka, having finished her answer correctly, looked at Professor Chronos, who had just clasped his hands together in praise.

"Bellissimo!" said Professor Chronos. "A superb job! It was a task far too simple for Obelisk Blue's Signora Asuka, was it not?"

"It's just the basics," Asuka replied, sitting back down into her seat.

Professor Chronos looked around the class.

"Now then…" he said, his attention focused on Jaden and Shou. "Signore Marufuji!"

Shou stood up quickly in his seat, replying nervously.

"Y-yes, sir!" said Shou.

Professor Chronos smiled, making Shou a bit more nervous.

"Please explain to us what field magic does," Professor Chronos said.

"Um…f-field… magic is…" stammered Shou. "Well…err…umm…"

"Even a kindergartener knows that kind of stuff!" someone from the class, specifically Obelisk Blue remarked.

The Obelisk Blue section of the class began to laugh, Manjoume (who was also in the class) snickered as Shou's face flushed from embarrassment. The Ra Yellow section began to laugh as well, though quietly, Daichi (also in the class as well) just stayed quiet. Jaden looked at Shou, smiling reassuringly to him.

"Don't worry about it," Jaden reassured. "Just calm down, Shou."

Shou stayed still, frozen from embarrassment. Professor Chronos looked at Shou, smiling somewhat from the reaction he expected.

"Very well, then," said Professor Chronos. "You may step back."

Shou sat back down in his seat as Professor Chronos went on about his reaction.

"To think that you were unable to answer the very basics among basics!" Professor Chronos said, shaking his head. "Well done, Osiris Red. You've shocked me…"

About the majority of the class laughed at what Professor Chronos said. Shou looked down as the class laughed.

"I know what it is, but I just had stage fright…" Shou said, his cheeks slightly tinge with red.

Jaden grinned and decided to give a remark himself.

"But Professor, knowledge and actual combat are two unrelated matters, aren't they?" he asked. "I mean, I'm one of the Osiris Red, as well, but I beat you in a duel, Professor!"

Professor Chronos gritted his teeth as Jaden laughed and bit his handkerchief he took out really hard to prevent himself from doing something inappropriate during class.

"Mamma Mia!" Professor Chronos said through his teeth.

The Osiris Red section of the class as well as a few from the other two began to laugh at Professor Chronos's reaction. Jaden held up a V sign, having noticed the looks on him. Asuka looked at Jaden, intrigued by his behavior.

~later~

Daitokuji was now explaining to the class what alchemy was as he sat down behind the podium, petting his cat in his lap.

"Well, alchemy is literally creating metal, particularly gold, from items without metal, but…" he explained as he continued to pet his cat. "…in a broad sense of the word, it's a skill where you attempt to transform and shape ordinary substances into complete substances-nya."

A/N Okay, hands up if you're thinking of _Fullmetal Alchemist _after hearing Daitokuji speak of alchemy. C'mon! Be honest! I know I'm thinking of it!

Jaden watched drowsily as the professor continued his explanation. Blinking a few times, he shut his eyes and opened his mouth wide as he let out a loud yawn, small tears welding in the corners of his eyes. Shou looked at Jaden, happy what he did.

"Aniki, thanks for earlier," Shou said, Jaden looking at him with misty eyes.

Jaden rubbed his eye as he looked questioningly at Shou.

"Huh?" he said. "Thanks for what?"

Shou blinked.

"'What'?" repeated Shou. "You know…"

Daitokuji finished his explanation and looked around, his smile ceasing as his attention was on Shou and Jaden. Jaden's eyes widened, now alert as he spotted the professor looking at him and Shou.

"Shh," said Jaden. "If you keep chattering, you're going to get it from the teacher again, Shou."

"Marufuji-kun," called Daitokuji.

Shou quickly stood up from his seat nervously.

"Y-Yes, sir!" said Shou.

Daitokuji smiled at Shou.

"Could you fetch Pharaoh for me?" asked Daitokuji.

Shou looked perplexed, beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face from anxiousness.

"P-Pharaoh…?" Shou said questioningly.

Daitokuji smiled.

"My cat-nya," he answered.

Shou looked at him owlishly before jumping up slight at a loud meow and the feeling of something rubbing against his leg. He looked down and saw a fat cat, Pharaoh, rubbing against his leg.

* * *

~meanwhile~

Somewhere within the Main Academy Building in an office room, Professor Chronos was writing on a paper with a quil, gritting his teeth at the events that happened earlier that day.

"How dare that dropout humiliate me like that!" He said to himself, placing down the quil on his desk. "If you think that I will leave it at that, then you're sadly mistaken."

Professor Chronos folded the paper neatly and placed it inside an envelope. Taking out something from his desk's drawers, he stuck it onto the envelope as a makeshift seal. He grinned as he looked at the envelope; its topmost flap now sporting the makeshift seal that kept it closed…a pink heart.

A/N For those of you who have figured out why this fic is AU, you should probably know why I used a heart seal. For those who haven't figured it out, you'll find out why I used a heart seal instead of a kiss. Kudos to those who can guess why it's a heart…and no, it's not a KH reference.

* * *

~later~

Shou ran into the locker room, panting as tried to catch his breath. First he got on a bad start with Professor Chronos (thankfully Jaden backed him up), and now he was late for gym, seeing as the locker room was empty…save for one person looking through their locker. The person seemed to have heard Shou's breathing and looked out, closing the door to their locker.

Shou blinked as he saw it was Jaden.

"_Looks like I'm not the only one who was late…"_ thought Shou.

Jaden blinked as he zipped up the top to his gym uniform, looking at Shou questioningly. Shou noticed the look Jaden gave him.

"What is it?" Shou asked.

Jaden tilted his head to the side.

"What are you doing in the girls' gym…more importantly, _why_ are you in the girls' locker room?" Jaden asked, Shou's expression growing nervous.

"T-this is the g-g-girls' gym!" stammered Shou. "Hold on…Why are _you_ in the girls' gym and the locker room?"

Jaden blinked and bent down to tie his shoes.

"The same reason you should be in the boys' gym and locker room seeing as you're not in your uniform yet," answered Jaden. "C'mon, Shou, I can't help you out every time. Be glad this room's empty save for me."

Shou blinked and looked at Jaden closely. He realized something about Aniki looked different. One, was his gym uniform being a pale violet color, lilac to be specific, two, Shou just noticed how slender Jaden really was due to the uniform's somewhat close fit on his body, and three, for a guy in the girls' locker room, he seemed rather calm. It would've taken Shou a few minutes to put two and two together, but since he didn't have the time, he just asked another question.

"Why is your uniform the color of the girl's uniform?" Shou asked.

Jaden finished tying his other shoe and looked up at Shou, blinking a few times before realizing something.

"You mean you don't know?" asked Jaden. "I'm a girl."

Shou's eyes widened as he froze still, his gaze still on Jaden. It took a full minute and a half for him to understand what Jaden had just said. Even after Shou understood what Jaden just said, the shock had a huge impact on the poor blue-haired boy that his eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted afterwards. Jaden winced as Shou fell back onto the ground, unconscious.

A/N What were you guys expecting? Sheesh, I DID say this fic was AU. After that, this part is practically made up by me (save for the dialogue from Professor Chronos in the locker room)…so I don't really expect much from this.

Jaden looked at Shou concerned and ran out of the locker room to go fetch the school's head nurse, who just so conveniently happened to be the gym instructor as well. The moment Jaden left the locker room, it was empty save for the unconscious Shou. At that same moment, Professor Chronos appeared, sneaking into the locker room with secrecy. He looked around cautiously and then began to open every locker, searching for Jaden's locker.

Having been told by Samejima about Jaden, as well as some of the Duel Academy staff, Professor Chronos could not be any more confused and angry. If it hadn't been for Jaden's decision to stay in the Osiris Red dorms, Professor Chronos would've had to deal with the dropout being in Obelisk Blue. Still, he didn't want to take his chances and today's earlier events made him want the dropout immediately out of the Academy.

"Where could that dropout's shoes be?" Professor Chronos asked himself.

Professor Chronos kept searching through the lockers, stopping when he spotted the unconscious Shou Marufuji. Smirking, he went back to searching through the lockers.

"_As expected of a dropout,"_ Professor Chronos thought. "Where are they?"

Professor Chronos opened the next locker and stopped.

"Ah, here they are!" he said, having spotted Jaden's red shoes within the locker, a name label confirming that they were the right ones.

Professor Chronos sniggered and placed the letter right on Jaden's shoes, grinning widely afterwards. He then left the room quickly, not wanting to be caught. After he left, Jaden entered the room with an older woman, somewhere around her mid-twenties with short, maroon-colored hair with a thick spike of said hair popping out and hung over the right side of her face. She had dark gray eyes and wore the same uniform Jaden wore with silver, lilac-gem earrings and lipstick the same shade of maroon as her hair.

"He's over here, Ayukawa-sensei!" Jaden said, directing the woman over at Shou.

Ayukawa gasped at Shou's unconscious state.

"Oh, my!" she said. "What happened?"

Jaden laughed nervously.

"I told him about…ya know…after he ran into here," said Jaden. "He didn't know this was the girls' gym until I told him and after that…yeah…"

Ayukawa sighed and picked up Shou. Jaden looked at Shou concerned.

"What are you going to do?" Jaden asked.

Ayukawa looked at Jaden as she placed Shou on her back.

"I'm going to take him to the infirmary," said Ayukawa. "Just stay put and don't worry about class today, I'll let it slide just this once."

Jaden nodded and watched Ayukawa walk away with Shou on his back. Jaden sighed and turned to his…no, her locker. Opening it, she stopped and blinked as she spotted a heart-sealed envelope.

"What's this?" she said.

Picking the envelope up, Jaden opened it and took out the letter, beginning to read its contents.

"'From the first time I laid eyes on you, I liked you,'" Jaden said, narrowing her eyes. _"Great, someone who thinks they're funny…Wait, there's more…"_

Jaden continued to read the letter.

"'Tonight, wait at the back of the boys' dorm,'" she said. "I wonder who's it from…hold on. Ryou Marufuji…I wonder who's that."

A/N Is it Ryou or Ryo? Damn, this just makes it confusing now that I remembered Bakura!

~later in the infirmary~

Shou opened his eyes slowly, getting used to the bright light. After a few more blinks, he sat up and looked around, stopping when he saw Jaden sitting by the side of the bed he was on.

"Oh, you're awake," said Jaden.

Shou nodded and looked around.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"You're in the infirmary," said a voice.

Shou blinked and turned, spotting a maroon-haired woman walking and stopping by Jaden's side. She smiled at him.

"The name's Emi Ayukawa, I'm the gym instructor and head nurse here at the Academy," she said.

Shou blinked; his memory somewhat blank.

"What happened?" asked Shou.

Ayukawa waved it off.

"Oh, nothing," said Ayukawa. "You just fainted."

Shou nodded and looked at Jaden.

"Oh…well, I had the strangest dream," said Shou.

Ayukawa looked at Shou questioningly before staring at Jaden.

"You don't say?" she said. "What was it about?"

Shou rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, it had to do with Jaden," said Shou. "He told me the strangest thing… that he was a girl."

Ayukawa looked at Jaden and then at Shou. Jaden rubbed the back of his head.

"Actually…that wasn't a dream," said Jaden.

Shou blinked and looked at Jaden with a perplexed expression.

"Then you mean…that you're really a…" Shou trailed off.

Ayukawa finished for him, "A girl?"

Shou looked at Jaden, who nodded.

"Seriously?" asked Shou.

Ayukawa placed her hand on Jaden's shoulder and nodded.

"She's right," said Ayukawa. "Jaden Yuki is 100% girl…but the same might not apply to her wardrobe and behavior. Someone who didn't exactly care for the mistake on her forms…"

Ayukawa stared at Jaden sternly, who smiled nervously. Shou blinked and looked at Jaden, everything that happened yesterday and earlier today coming together. That's why Jaden needed a separate room—that's why he was asked by Daitokuji if he wanted to borrow his room in the meantime—_that's_ why his father would have taken him out of Duel Academy. Shou's eyes widened.

Jaden laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his—scratch that, HER—head. Shou understood everything now…

"I'm rooming with a girl?" he exclaimed.

Jaden laughed.

"Relax, Shou!" said Jaden. "This doesn't change anything!"

Shou looked at Jaden with a somewhat stern expression.

"Like hell it doesn't, Aniki—er, Aneki!" Shou snapped, correcting himself on the name he gave him—her, ugh!

Shou had his hands on his head, slightly annoyed. Jaden sighed, this was going to take a while…

~later that day~

In the Osiris dorms, Shou sighed as he looked up from where he laid on his bed. Today's events had him exhausted and somewhat nervous. He sighed and turned to the side. Hayato overheard his sighed and looked down at him.

"What happened?" he asked.

Shou sighed again.

"Oh, just something about Jaden," Shou answered.

Hayato nodded and got back up into his bed.

"So you found out, huh?" asked Hayato.

Shou's eyes widened and he immediately sat up…regretting it instantly when his head hit the bottom of Hayato's bunk bed.

THUD!

Hayato winced at the impact whilst Shou rubbed his head. After a few seconds, Shou appeared by the side of Hayato's bed, his hands on the bed.

"You mean you already knew about Ani-I mean, Aneki?" asked Shou. "When was this?"

Hayato turned to face Shou.

"When you guys were out at the duel fields," Hayato said, placing his fist under his cheek. "Daitokuji-sensei explained it all."

Shou nodded.

"But why didn't he tell me?" he asked.

Hayato sighed.

"Well, he assumed you already knew…somewhat," Hayato explained. "I mean, you hang out with Jaden all the time."

Shou nodded his head slowly.

"Oh, I see…" said Shou.

Hayato looked around before looking back at Shou.

"Speaking of Jaden, where is she?" asked Hayato.

Shou jabbed his thumb at the door.

"In the bathhouse," said Shou. "Daitokuji-sensei's keeping watch for her seeing as not only are they giving her a separate room, but her own bathhouse as well."

A/N Just to keep you from asking questions about that, so there! Ha! One step closer to keeping this story without conflicts about that! And don't argue! Manjoume got one made for himself when they were building his room, remember? Pfft...I have future plans for that!

Hayato sighed.

"Well, Jaden is a girl and not to mention the only girl in the Osiris Red dorm," said Hayato. "Hell, she's the only girl not in Obelisk Blue."

Shou blinked.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Hayato looked down at Shou with a surprised expression.

"You mean you don't know that, too?" asked Hayato.

Shou laughed nervously and scratched the side of his head idly. Hayato sighed and shook his head.

"I thought you would've notice by known since there haven't been any girls in any of the dorms except Obelisk Blue," said Hayato.

Shou blinked with curiosity.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Shut up, I'm about to answer that," snapped Hayato. "All female students that are accepted into Duel Academy are automatically placed in the Obelisk Blue dorms regardless of whether they have the skill necessary to have been accepted into dorm."

Shou nodded and placed his hand on his chin.

"So that means…Jaden was supposed to have been in Obelisk Blue?" asked Shou.

Hayato nodded and said, "Exactly."

Shou looked down and sighed.

"I wonder why she decided to stay in Osiris Red when she had the chance of a lifetime to be in Obelisk Blue…?" said Shou.

"That's because I like it here and I have friends like you in this exact dorm," replied a voice.

Shou looked at the door and saw Jaden, wearing lilac and white sweat pants and a sweatshirt, toweling her wet hair as she closed the door. Feeling rather satisfied with the answer, though with a question in mind, Shou smiled and jumped off his bunk bed.

"Hey, Aniki-er, Aneki," said Shou.

Jaden smiled at Shou and walked over to a chair by the bunk bed. Sitting back down on the chair, Jaden continued to towel dry her wet hair. Shou walked over to Jaden and looked at her, now having caught her attention as she looked up at him.

"What is it, Shou?" she asked.

Shou rubbed the back of his head.

"I want to know…how did you managed to get into Osiris Red?" asked Shou. "Aren't you supposed to be in Obelisk Blue?"

Jaden nodded.

"Yeah, I am," Jaden answered, taking the towel off her head and began to shake off the excess water in her hair. Afterwards, she looked at Shou and asked, "Remember when I told you about the registration form?"

Shou nodded as Jaden continued to answer his question.

"Well, I was late as you already know," said Jaden. "When I went to check in with the lady, conveniently the gender box on the application form was blank and she filled it out for me. She must've thought I was a boy…"

Shou nodded as he remembered the entrance exam day. When he first saw Jaden, he could see why the lady would've mistaken her gender…and the naïve tone in her voice didn't help either. Jaden continued on with her explanation.

"When I went to register, the lady was in a hurry," said Jaden. "Seeing as I was the last one, she decided to register me herself and used the application form to fill in most of the blanks and made guesses on certain things save for the important ones, which she called my dad for. And from there on, I was registered into Duel Academy officially as a guy."

A/N Hope that doesn't make this confusing, if it does…just go along with it until I can fix this or get help from someone!

Shou nodded, understanding how Jaden got into Osiris Red. Though, a question popped into mind again.

"When did you find out about being registered as a boy?" asked Shou.

Jaden crossed her arms and placed her hand on her chin.

"When I got the uniform," said Jaden. "Though I didn't exactly mind, I'm actually used to this. It was my dad who minded. I mean, this hasn't been the first time something like this happened so my dad calls now and then to check on me."

Jaden mushroom sighed.

"Guess he must've called Samejima and found out about the mistake," said Jaden. "Well, there you have it."

Shou nodded and watched as Jaden stood up from her seat. She walked over to the desk and opened a drawer, taking out the envelope she received today. Opening it to read the letter, she spoke out loud.

"Who's Ryou Marufuji?" she asked, looking over at Shou, noticing the look on his face. "Is he a relation of yours?"

Hayato, having heard Jaden, looked at her with a surprised expression.

"You mean you don't know who Ryou Marufuji is?" he asked, Jaden shaking her head in answer. "Top of the Third-Year Obelisk Blue, Ryou Marufuji."

Shou looked down.

"The students refer to him as the Kaiser, the Emperor of the Duel Academy," said Shou.

Jaden blinked.

"So you know him?" she asked.

Shou nodded and sighed.

"Yeah…he's my brother," said Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou, astonished.

"No way…too cool!" said Jaden.

Shou placed his hand underneath his chin.

"Easy for you to say," he sighed. "Why'd you ask?"

Jaden walked over to Shou and handed him over the letter.

"I found this in my locker after Ayukawa-sensei took you to the infirmary," answered Jaden.

Shou adjusted his glasses and read the letter. His eyes widened and he exclaimed.

"E-eehh?" said Shou. "Aniki got a love letter?"

Hayato blinked and looked at Jaden, smirking.

"I don't see why anyone would send her a letter," said Hayato. "I could understand if it's a girl since she looks like a guy, but for a boy…pfft! She lacks assets, if you know what I mean…"

Shou blinked and looked over Jaden, blushing slightly after realizing what he did. He hoped that Jaden didn't see. And just as luck had it, Jaden didn't notice. She was too busy glaring at Hayato.

"Shut it, Koala-man!" snapped Jaden.

Hayato snickered as he realized Jaden didn't fully get the tease. Jaden crossed her arms and waved at Shou to continue.

"Keep reading," she said. "And isn't it supposed to be 'Aneki'?"

Hayato snickered.

"Not with that appearance, it isn't," remarked Hayato. "You're more boy than girl."

Jaden glared at Hayato, who was smirking at the fact that his teasing was getting to her.

"Never mind, call me whatever you want," she said. "Now keep reading."

Shou nodded and continued to read the letter, coming upon the sender's name. His eyes widened as he let out another exclamation. Jaden yawned, rubbing her eyes as she felt bored.

"So, what's up?" asked Jaden.

Shou looked up at Jaden as he held out the letter, pointing at the name.

"This isn't my brother's signature," Shou said, looking over the letter again. "Or even his handwriting at all…in fact…he's not one to send letters! He's one to receive them!"

Hayato grinned and looked at Shou.

"How'd you know?" asked Hayato.

Shou blushed slightly as Jaden looked at him curiously.

"Go on!" she said.

Shou stuttered a bit before answering, "He used to make me help him make the list of girls he was going to reject."

Jaden tilted her head to the side.

"Which was…?" asked Jaden.

"All of them," Shou said automatically. "What I'm trying to say, it's not like him to suddenly be attracted to a girl."

Hayato looked at Jaden and snorted.

"Let alone a girl who has no assets and could pass for a guy," he remarked. "I don't even think anyone else knows you're a girl minus us, Daitokuji-sensei, and maybe a few others."

Jaden scowled at Hayato, her eyes widening as she finally got what the koala-resembling boy implied earlier and the current moment. She covered her chest with her arms and scowled at Hayato, her face being a brilliant shade of red.

"Well, excuse me for lacking assets!" snapped Jaden. "It's not my fault I'm a little underdeveloped!"

Hayato burst into laughter, causing Jaden to growl. Shou looked nervously at both of them.

"Little?" said Hayato.

Jaden stomped her foot, her expression darkening.

"It's not funny, Koala-man!" she snapped.

Hayato waved it off.

"Relax, I'm just teasing you," said Hayato. "And I'm laughing at the fact that it took you a full 10 minutes to realize what I meant by 'assets'."

Jaden's face burned red from embarrassment and anger.

"What do you mean by that?" Jaden growled.

"Exactly!" Hayato said, laughing afterwards.

Hayato continued to laugh as Jaden, oblivious as she is (and why Hayato was laughing), scowled at him.

Shou sighed and grabbed a change of clothes and a towel. He opened the door and shut it behind him, leaving the fighting duo inside the room be.

"Best not to get dragged into their fight," Shou said, making his way towards the bathhouse.

As he walked towards the bathhouse, he could help but wonder who gave Jaden the fake letter. Sighing, Shou shook his head.

"Guess I'll never know," he said.

* * *

~meanwhile by the Obelisk Blue Dorms~

Professor Chronos gritted his teeth as he hid within a bush in the back of the boys' dorms, specifically behind the boys' bathhouse. Having been waiting for a good amount of time for Jaden to come, Professor Chronos was enraged when the gender-mistaken dropout had yet to come. His plan was nowhere near close to completion.

Jaden was supposed to have come, having received a love letter from the most coveted person on Duel Academy. Professor Chronos knew that fact about Ryou through experience, having seen the letters the Kaiser has received as well as the number of crying girls he's rejected. The blonde-haired professor gripped the camera in his hand that he was going to use on Jaden had that dropout arrived to use as evidence to report her for late night trespassing around the boys' dormitory…which girl's are not allowed to intrude unless invited and that's only during the _day_! It would've been the perfect plan!

Busting the dropout for humiliating him by luring her into trespassing Obelisk Blue dorms late at night by the boys' dorm…

"_And by the boys' bathhouse no less!"_ thought Professor Chronos. _"That would've gotten her expelled!"_

Professor Chronos growled and sighed, deciding to wrap it up. That gender-mistaken dropout wasn't coming. Either she guessed it was a fake, had no interest in romance or guys… or it could be she's…

Professor Chronos placed his hand on his chin.

"_That would explain the gender-mistaken identity, but I don't think that's it," _he thought. _"Hold on…she's friends with Ryou's brother, Shou…should've known."_

Face palming at a milestone he should've seen, Professor Chronos snuck out of the bushes and ran into the dead of the night. (A/N I've always wanted to type that down! XD)

* * *

~meanwhile, back at the dorms~

Jaden had managed to get Hayato out of bed after using an insult related to his koala-resembling appearance. Hayato, having had enough with the 'Koala-man' nickname and the insult having went a little too far, decided to show his roommate how serious he can be. However, he didn't know that Jaden took self-defense (to be explained in later chapters) and was caught off guard when she grabbed onto his arm and judo threw him onto the ground. Hayato, on the ground and in a daze, was helpless as Jaden crawled onto him and begin to try and grab him in a headlock, seeing as she couldn't exactly do that while he was standing. She wasn't exactly tall by anyone's standards, _barely_ an inch taller than Shou and _exceptionally_ shorter than Hayato, but a hell of a lot more agile than him.

Luckily, Hayato snapped out of his daze and grabbed Jaden's hands to prevent her from taking any shots to his face or grabbing him in a hold. Thankfully, her small height's advantage turned the tables on her when it came to reach.

In the mean time outside, Shou, wearing a blue and white sweatshirt with sweatpants, walked back towards his room, toweling his blue hair. He stopped in front of the door and reached for the knob.

"I wonder how Hayato-kun and Aniki are doing?" he asked himself.

His question was answered once he opened the door… Shou stared at the rather compromising position his friends were in, Jaden sitting right on top of Hayato, both staring into each other's faces (though he managed to miss the enraged look on their faces). He dropped his towel as his face turned red, not realizing that the reason that his friends were in that position was all because of Jaden.

Having heard the door open, both Jaden and Hayato turned to the door and spotted Shou. Hayato noticed Shou's red face and mentally cursed as he realized their compromising position. It wasn't what it looked like…no really, it wasn't. Had Shou been in here only a few minutes ago, his face wouldn't have been red and he would've been helping Hayato get Jaden off him. Before Hayato could say anything, Shou did the only thing a good person (in an anime/manga) would do in this situation…close his eyes and apologize.

"Sorry to intrude!" Shou said, immediately walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

* * *

A/N I'm serious! Almost every person who walks in on people in a compromising position in a manga or anime, always have this reaction! I've seen it in _Kamichama-Karin_, _The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_…I'm not sure but MAYBE _Chibi Vampire_ and _Ouran High School Host Club_…sorta when Haruhi's Dad walks into the house when Tamaki's on top of her. That…was hilarious. And, if not, then they react with violence!

* * *

Jaden sweat dropped and looked at Hayato.

"What the hell was that about?" she asked, about to give Hayato the noogie of his life (the most painful one, in his opinion seeing as he was just feeling it now).

Hayato growled in annoyance, having just about it and the pain being somewhat unbearable. Embarrassing, actually, since it was coming from a first-year who was a good amount shorter than him…and a girl no less! Not that he was exactly annoyed with that…it was just plain embarrassing since the only thing he had managed to do was piss her off. Also, the only thing he could actually do at the moment was hold her back to a small extend to avoid her wrath. Apparently, it wasn't working anymore, and with nothing else in mind, he decided to give up…but not until she was off of him!

"Shou!" yelled Hayato. "Get your ass back in here and get this crazy kid off me!"

* * *

~meanwhile outside~

Shou had his back to the door, his face cooled off from the 'supposed' embarrassment. Having his name shouted by the big, koala-resembling boy, Shou had no idea in hell on what to do. Luckily for him again, Daitokuji walked by carrying his cat, Pharaoh, having heard all the commotion and especially the loud 'THUD!' from when Jaden threw Hayato on the ground, he decided to check it out. Spotting Shou's anxiety, Daitokuji did the only thing anyone would do…open the door after moving Shou out of the way.

Daitokuji and Shou looked into the room and their gaze froze of the fighting roommates. In the battle between Jaden vs. Hayato (as Shou finally realized), Jaden was surprisingly in the lead…and currently giving Hayato (who had managed to get off the ground and was currently standing) a full noogie (A/N Like the one Conan usually gets in _Detective Conan_) as she sat on his shoulders with her legs locked around his neck as a precaution to avoid being pulled or thrown off easily.

In a chibi-like manner, Shou in a referee uniform blew a whistle and held up a sign with the current score for round 1.

Round 1:

Jaden: WIN (Chibi-Jaden holds up a V-sign)

Hayato: OWNED (Chibi-Hayato gets tackled by Chibi-Jaden)

As Jaden proceeded to mash her knuckles into the large boy's scalp, whom was currently trying to pull her off, Daitokuji walk up to Hayato, his back to everyone including Jaden's, after giving Shou, Pharaoh.

"Take…it…back…!" Jaden said through clenched teeth.

Suddenly, Jaden was pulled off of Hayato by the back of her sweatshirt. This caught her off guard and startled her to some extent.

"Eeek!" she cried out.

Shou and Hayato (after recovering from Jaden's assault) both blinked owlishly after hearing Jaden shriek. It was the first thing they've seen-er, heard from her that actually made her seem like a…well, girl. Jaden looked to her side as she was pulled higher than she even was to face Daitokuji.

"What's going on-nya?" he asked, his smile making Jaden nervous.

Jaden, her resilience recovering quickly as she spotted Hayato, started flailing around as Daitokuji held her up high.

"Ugh…just you wait, Koala-man!" yelled Jaden. "When I get down from here, I'm gonna make you take back that 'no assets' insult!"

Hayato was taken aback as Jaden started clawing at the air in the direction he was standing in…sort of like a cat. Shou and Daitokuji were also taken by surprise at Jaden's cat-like behavior. As if to accentuate her behavior, a pair of imaginary brown-colored cat ears and a tail sprouted on Jaden along with the elongation of her canine teeth. Tail up and ears bristled accompanied by a hiss, there was no mistaking Jaden was angry.

Daitokuji smiled, an idea popping up in mind. Seeing as Jaden was in a cat-like fury, he decided to tease her a bit. Propping her down on the floor, he patted her head.

"Nice kitty," he said, catching Jaden by surprise, once again. "What would your father think-nya?"

The ears, tail, and elongated canines combo disappeared as Jaden crossed her arms and diverted her attention somewhere else. She had been outsmarted with the mention of her father.

In another chibi-like manner, Shou, still in uniform, blew his whistle again and held up the current score of round 2 (which was actually the same sign he held up earlier…only it was the opposite side of it).

Round 2:

Daitokuji: WIN (Chibi-Daitokuji was grinning as a Chibi-Jaden looked away from him as she had her arms crossed while she stood by his side)

Jaden: K.O. (Read first score of round 2)

Hayato: STILL OWNED (Chibi-Hayato was not pleased)

* * *

A/N Not that I don't like Hayato, it was just too irresistible! Besides, about the cat-look combo…no, I'm not making Jaden part cat! Sheesh! It's actually an anime gag for comedic affect when a person acts like the animal that matches their behavior. It's a one-time comedic affect…like in chapter 84 in volume 14 of _Skip Beat!_ When Kyoko was returning Shou…hold on! Shou…dang, I just barely realized that and I had 15 volumes checked out from the library just a week ago and I still have them! As my friends would say, slap yourself. I would, but my nose… is currently bleeding (damn allergies!) and it's barely 10 in the morning! This sucks…

* * *

Daitokuji ruffled Jaden's hair as Shou and Hayato walked over to them.

"Why can't we all get along-nya?" asked Daitokuji. "You are going to be living in the same dorm for the next year or so until further notices…"

Daitokuji pushed Jaden towards Hayato and stared at them.

"Now, apologize to each other," he said.

Jaden and Hayato looked away from one another as they sheepishly apologized (though not really meaning it fully) to each other. Daitokuji smiled and nodded before proceeding to walk out of the dorm after taking Pharaoh from Shou. Shou watched the professor close the door behind him and stared at his roommates, both whom were avoiding each other.

Shou mushroom sighed.

"_This is going to be a long year…"_ he thought.

* * *

A/N If you're wondering why this chapter is shorter than the first, it's because this was actually part of the first chapter. And let me just tell you, that this with the first chapter together made 34 pages and over 16,000 words. I still can't believe I wrote that much…well, now you know what makes this story AU if you hadn't figured it out from the first chapter. Tell me what you think and constructive criticism is always welcomed, but flames aren't.

Review if you wish or have a request involving this story's AU capabilities (no OCs or relatives that are related to Jaden aside from parents, dammit!). Remember, I'm only doing this to a certain point on that request, why? Well, I might actually add a shounen-ai (if I don't gender bend anyone else, which is anything but my agenda/story plans) pairing that I actually enjoy and can actually see happening and it involves older siblings…you should know who I'm talking about, if not…whatever. Also, I hope you're not bored with this story, I mean, it's my first _Yu-Gi-Oh! GX_ fan fic, so go easy on me if I make mistakes.


	3. Turn 03

Chapter Three

Promotional Exams...of DOOM!

As time went by, Jaden and Hayato eventually forgave each other fully and eventually became friends, much to the relief of Shou, Daitokuji, and most of the Osiris Red Dorm (seeing as they could hear their fighting and couldn't concentrate on homework or sleeping). Though that didn't exactly stop Hayato's teasing, but it did stop the fighting.

Jaden found out Asuka knew that she was a girl from the start having been told by Samejima to escort her around the dorms…had she been transferred from Osiris Red to Obelisk Blue, that is. During that time, Jaden found out Asuka had _all kinds_ of dueling materials and stuff…that the gender-mistaken duelist began to borrow often. Although when the Osiris Red duelist kept borrowing the Asuka's card catalog when she needed it as well, she had no way to contact Jaden. And due to that fact, Asuka had to go _all_ the way from her dorm, the Obelisk Blue dorms, to Jaden's dorm, the Osiris Red dorms. Thankfully, Shou managed to help them by suggesting for them to swap numbers to keep in contact.

More to the point and off that subject, Asuka was the only one aside from Hayato, Shou, and some of the Duel Academy staff that knew Jaden's true gender. It was quite a surprise seeing that it had been almost a full month (I'm making a guess and _monthly_ exams is that guess) since she's been in Duel Academy and she had worn the different gym uniform. Either the guys are too oblivious, or they don't seem to pay attention to gym uniform much. And what was supposed to have taken a few weeks was now taking longer since Jaden still didn't get her separate room, not that she minded, of course.

A/N Of course it would've taken longer to make a room, I mean there's the design, the dimensions of the room, structure…I could go on seeing as I've had Geometry, but I won't and the chapter title is OBVIOUSLY exaggerated…sorry, but I ran out of ideas!

Aside from the 'No Assets' fiasco, as Shou calls it, the 'catalog contacts' incident, and the fact that Jaden's gender was still officially male by students' standards (pronouns didn't do any good seeing as everyone who knew her gender referred to her as male, which she also didn't mind correcting and due to that, it's been a force of habit), Academy life went through it usual ups and downs…That was until Exam Day.

A/N Cue the thunder/lightning and dramatic music…CRASH! BOOM! FLASH! *dramatic music* Excellent…eww, I feel like Mr. Burns.

As everyone studied for their exams, most were anxious seeing as these were the promotional exams where if you do well, you get promoted to a different dorm. And within that anxious majority of students, was Shou Marufuji, who, after many hours of studying and last minute studying, was so anxious, that he resorted to praying to a poster of an Egyptian God Card in his room.

Hayato, on the other hand, decided to just screw it and stay in bed. Jaden seemed to agree with that, though she was too busy sleeping to confirm her answer. Shou faced the poster of the Egyptian God Card monster (which resided by the desk) that his dorm was named after while wearing a headband with three cards in them. A Monster Reborn card stood on a small pedestal on the desk along with a lit candle each on both sides of Shou in front of the poster.

"I beseech thee…" Shou said while looking down at the small shrine he made (I call it a shrine, so live with it!). "O Duel God, depending on how I score on today's monthly test, I can get promoted from Osiris Red to Ra Yellow! This is sure to be my…Resurrection of the Dead!"

Shou clasped his hands together and closed his eyes.

"Please save poor Shou from the cemetery!" Shou said pleadingly, his voice almost cracking from anxiety. "I beg of you, please!"

A sudden loud ringing startled Shou out of his praying request to Osiris the Sky Dragon as he shrieked. He gripped the desk and turned around. He sighed when he realized it was from the alarm clock, which was standing by the side of Jaden's bunk bed, though somewhat wary.

"Oh, it's just the alarm clock…" Shou said, getting up from his seat.

Shou frowned as he walked over to Jaden, who was surprisingly still soundly asleep…even with the ringing alarm clock which happened to have been set down by her side. Shou stared at her, somewhat envious on how calm Jaden really was.

"Aniki sure is relaxed…" said Shou. "She doesn't do any studying for the test, comes back to the dorm and just sleeps away."

* * *

A/N Reason Shou refers to Jaden as 'Aniki' instead of 'Aneki' is because he mixed them up and now, due to a force of habit and not being corrected, he refers to Jaden as 'Aniki', which Jaden doesn't mind…Hey! It can happen! I sometimes mix up two of my older brothers' names with the others and since they don't correct me, I have to do it myself! It's kinda annoying and now it's somewhat a force of habit when both of them are together or sometimes on the phone! But I digress, back to the story.

* * *

Shou placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder and attempted to wake her up.

"Aniki, you're gonna be late for the test!" said Shou. "Aniki!"

Jaden turned in bed so suddenly, that Shou didn't have a chance to brace himself when she threw her hands into the air. Poor Shou was knocked back a few feet onto the floor after receiving an unintentional punch to the face from Jaden's fist.

"My turned!" Jaden yelled in her sleep. "Draw!"

Shou clenched his teeth as he elevated his back off the ground slightly. He glared at Jaden, somewhat annoyed with being knocked back.

"Geez!" exclaimed Shou. "Your turn's over! I said you're gonna be late for the test!"

Hayato, having woken up from the alarm clock and Jaden yelling in her sleep, looked down at the knocked back Shou.

"Shou, you're way too soft and I wouldn't if I were you," Hayato warned as Shou looked up to him. "Remember, she took self-defense and if she was able to do that in her sleep, then imagine what else she can do."

Shou grimaced at the thought. Apparently, at a younger age than she was now, Jaden was targeted to bullying by kids slightly older or around her age. Being the protective parent that her father was (as Jaden stated), he made Jaden take self-defense classes until he deemed her 'protected'. As Shou remembered what Jaden told him, he sweat dropped when she admitted that her bullies didn't know her exact gender…and fell back anime-style when she also added that they still didn't know.

A/N The self-defense was for a comedic affect and…I dunno what else it's for. Damn, I'm so unprepared! Please don't flame me for that!

Hayato looked at Jaden before looking back at Shou.

"The test has you compete in your own dorm in both a practical and written portion," explained Hayato. "That means all the members of Osiris Red are your enemy."

Shou looked at Hayato with disbelief.

"N-No way…my enemy?" he asked.

Hayato nodded and added, "And since she beat Professor Chronos, Jaden's especially closest to Ra Yellow out of all the Osiris Reds here."

Shou looked at Jaden as she slept before looking back up at Hayato. Hayato grinned.

"If we just leave her be and don't wake her up, we'll gain ourselves the advantage," said Hayato.

Shou glared at Hayato with daggers.

"I couldn't possibly do that to my Aniki as his otouto!" Shou snapped, attempting once again to wake Jaden up. "Aniki! Wake up, Aniki! The test is gonna start, Aniki!"

Shou scowled as his attempt failed. He stood up and started to make his way out of the room.

"Aniki… damn it!" Shou swore as he barged right out of the room. "Aniki!"

Hayato looked over at the door as Shou slammed it behind him. The koala-resembling boy sweat dropped.

* * *

~outside~

Shou ran towards the Main Academy Building, his thoughts focused on something else.

"That's right," he thought. "This is a duelist's battlefield. I have to beat them before they beat me. I'm trying to be a hard-boiled duelist!"

Shou had just run onto the pathway when he tripped and landed flat face-first. So much for trying to look epic…

* * *

~later~

Jaden dashed out of the dorm, wearing a nervous expression after realizing she slept in.

"I'm late!" yelled Jaden. "I'm late! I'm late!"

Being as fast and agile as she was, it didn't take her very long to have gotten far away from the dorm and closer to the Main Academy Building.

"I'm late!" yelled Jaden. "I'm late…and I sound like that rabbit from _Alice in Wonderland_!"

A/N Yeah, I kinda couldn't resist putting that in when he said it in the original (not the dub).

However, something along the way caught her eye as she ran past it. It was a woman, probably within her mid-thirties or so with brown eyes behind oval-lensed glasses and long, brown hair in a braid, trying to push a van up the slope in the path. Having past the woman in her haste, leaving a trail of dust behind, Jaden's conscious caught up to her. Sliding to a stop, Jaden turned around and looked at the woman.

Groaning in annoyance, Jaden placed her hands on her head.

"Ugh, I'm a sucker for situations like this!" lamented Jaden. "Oh, well…"

Jaden, deciding the exam could wait, ran towards the woman and proceeded to help her push the van up the slope.

"I'll give you a hand, old lady!"said Jaden.

The lady looked back at Jaden, baffled.

"You'll be late!" she said. "Don't you have a test today?"

Jaden shook her head and tightened her fists.

"So what if I'm late?" said Jaden. "I can't ignore an old lady in trouble!"

The van slid back down, dragging the lady with it. Jaden smiled nervously, seeing as it was her fault that happened, and ran after them, stopping behind the van to keep it from going any further down. The lady looked at Jaden kindly.

"Boy…" said the lady.

Jaden looked at her and grinned.

"I can handle that thing you just mentioned," said Jaden. "Just leave everything to me!"

Jaden grinned widely and laughed, helping the lady push the van up. The lady smiled as she proceeded to move the van up, with help from Jaden.

"Thanks a bunch!" she said.

Both Jaden and the lady managed to get the van moving after a few tries and proceeded to push it up the hill.

"Don't mention it," said Jaden. "We're both in a pinch, you know!"

* * *

~later within the Main Academy Building~

Everyone within the room was taking their exam…well, everyone except Shou. Shou had fallen asleep right on top of his exam.

"Aniki…" he said in his sleep. "Aniki…I'm sorry…Aniki…"

"Unforgivable!" snapped a voice. "Absolutely unforgivable!"

Shou woke up wide-eyed and turned to look at Jaden, who had her hands on her hips. She grinned at him.

"There's no point in studying to the bone just to doze off, you jerk!" said Jaden.

Shou laughed awkwardly.

"A-Aniki…" he said.

Manjoume, having been taking his exam, overheard Jaden and Shou. A vein popped out on his forehead as his eye twitched slightly. He stood up from his seat and placed his hands on his desk as he looked down at Jaden and Shou.

"You're a pest, Osiris Red!" snapped Manjoume. "Shut your trap! If you don't plan on taking the test, then beat it!"

Jaden scowled and faced Manjoume with tightened fists.

"Quit joking around!" remarked Jaden. "I came all this way! You think I'm just gonna go back?"

Having overheard everything from at the center of the room was Daitokuji. Seeing Jaden, he grinned and called out for her.

"Jaden Yuki-kun, come down here and get a testing sheet-nya!" said Daitokuji. "There's not much time left-nya!"

Jaden's expression turned from miffed to nervous. Turning around, she raised her hand into the air and answered back.

"Yes, sir!" she called out.

From within her seat, Asuka's expression was stern at Jaden's behavior as well as a few others.

"_H-He's mocking us…"_ thought someone.

_"Being thirty minutes late means she has no consideration for the written test," _thought Asuka.

Daichi watched from his seat as Jaden took her test from Daitokuji.

"_How could you be so negligent and yet have such considerable skills, Jaden Yuki?"_ Daichi thought as he watched Jaden run back up towards his seat.

An Osiris Red member scowled at Jaden.

"_How did a guy like him beat Professor Chronos?"_ he thought.

Asuka wondered that herself.

"_How…?"_ she thought.

A few moments later into the test, the students sitting by Jaden and Shou glared at them as they were both asleep. Laughing to himself as he watched them sleep on was Professor Chronos.

"She finished herself off on the written test, just as I suspected!" Professor Chronos said to himself as he grinned. "All that remains is the practical skills test…"

Professor Chronos laughed to himself again, his grin never leaving his face as he covered his mouth.

"_I look forward to that!"_ he thought.

The test was over once the voice on the intercom announced it.

**"In addition, the practical skills test will take place in the gymnasium at 2:00 PM!"** added the intercom.

With that announced, everyone quickly rushed out of their classes to get the new cards that the store would have received today. They were like animals in a stampede as they ran out of the Main Academy Building.

Manjoume straightened out his test papers as his two groupies, Taiyou and Raizou, walked up to him.

"Let's hurry!" said Raizou. "We have to hurry up!"

Manjoume looked over his papers.

"I know," he said.

Manjoume's groupies ran out of the room to go check out the new cards. With that, the whole room was nearly empty save for Jaden, Shou, and Daichi, who was trying to wake them up.

"Hey, you two!" said Daichi. "Wake up! The test is already over!"

Shou immediately woke up wide-eyed and stood up in his seat at the same time. After a few seconds, a stream of tears ran down his cheeks as his spirits sank low and he shrugged.

"Now I've done it…why did I even study?" Shou sighed in depression.

Jaden woke up a few seconds ago and overheard Shou. She lifted her head from her desk and grinned at Shou with her eyes closed.

"Don't sweat it," reassured Jaden. "The skills test this afternoon is where it counts."

With that said, Jaden set her head back down on her desk. Shou looked around in the room and noticed how empty it was.

"Huh?" said Shou. "Where is everyone?"

Jaden lifted her head from her desk and stood up.

"Is it lunchtime already?" she asked.

Daichi answered that question for Jaden.

"They're at the store," answered Daichi. "They're getting a large quantity of brand new cards during the lunch break, after all."

Shou went wide-eyed as he looked astonished.

"H-Huh!" exclaimed Shou. "A large shipment of cards?"

Daichi grinned and held out his hand.

"Everybody went down there to buy some, trying to reinforce their decks for the practical skills test this afternoon," explained Daichi.

"W-What about you, Misawa-kun?" asked Shou.

Daichi kept grinning.

"I'm confident in my deck as it is," he said. "I don't need any new cards."

Shou looked at Jaden.

"W-What about you, Aniki?" asked Shou.

Jaden blinked.

"I'm…really interested!" Jaden exclaimed wearing big grin. "I've just _gotta_ see what kind of cards they've got!"

Jaden dashed out, calling after Shou to follow. Daichi watched as Jaden and Shou ran out of the room.

* * *

~meanwhile~

At the store, students were banging their fists on the overhead door that prevented them from entering. Most were impatient to see the new cards and were shouting for the store to open.

"Open up!" they yelled. "Open up! Hurry up and show us the rare cards!"

The sounds of cars screeching as they came to a stop followed by men wearing the same uniform and holding the same baton made everyone stop what they were doing and look back. Everyone looked wide-eyed at the men.

"Who are they!" they yelled.

The men surrounded the students and ordered them to step back. Afterwards, the men lined up in two separate lines facing each other on the opposite sides. A man in a white uniform walked in the middle of them carrying a suitcase.

"What you guys want…" he said, holding up the suitcase with a big grin. "…is right in here!"

The students cheered and clapped as the man lifted up the overhead door to enter the store. Before entering, the man looked at the students.

"And we're selling them…right now," he said, walking into the store.

The students all smiled widely and ecstatically.

"At last, the rare cards are…" said everyone.

The overhead door was opened up fully, revealing an opened suitcase set on a table with a small package within the suitcase that said…'Sold'. The students fell back anime-style as they wailed.

"…_not_ here!" they wailed. "What is the meaning of this!"

The counter girl gestured at the man in the black trench coat standing by the empty suitcase.

"This person has purchased them all," she said.

The students looked at the guy as he held up his hand.

"I have already paid the price in full," he said.

Outbursts and complaints filled the room as the students glared daggers at the man who purchased the cards.

"That's low!" said someone.

"Hogging them all to yourself, huh!" said another.

"You fiend!" added someone else.

* * *

~meanwhile~

Jaden and Shou dashed out of the door as they made their way to the store.

"Hurry!" said Jaden. "Hurry!"

"Wait for me!" said Shou.

Both Osiris Reds slid to a stop and noticed the store was completely empty…save for the counter girl.

"What happened…?" asked Jaden.

"If no one's here…" said Shou.

Jaden and Shou looked at each other worriedly.

"Does that mean they've been bought already!" they exclaimed.

Jaden and Shou ran towards the counter.

"Granny!" yelled Jaden. "Granny!"

The lady at the counter turned and glared at Jaden, who smiled nervously.

"Uh…_miss_," corrected Jaden. "Where are the new cards?"

The lady at the counter's expression softened, seeing as Jaden just made a mistake. Both Jaden and Shou stopped by the counter.

"Well, there were a lot of students here to buy cards…" she explained, sliding down a green package onto the counter to show them. "…and this is the only one we have left."

Shou and Jaden looked at the package with shock.

"Huh!" they both exclaimed. "J-Just one!"

Shou looked at Jaden with concern.

"What should we do, Aniki?" Shou asked Jaden, his expression turning anxious. "We bombed the written test, so if we can at least beef up our decks for the practical part…"

Jaden waved her arms in front of herself as she smiled at Shou.

"It's okay," she said. "You buy it, Shou."

Shou looked at Jaden awestruck.

"You're letting me have it?" asked Shou. "It's the very last pack!"

"It's _fine_," said Jaden.

Shou frowned.

"But Aniki, today's a really big test!" said Shou. "And we're both mutual enemies, too…"

Jaden opened her eyes and looked at Shou perplexed.

"Enemies?" she said questioningly. "Why?"

Shou kept his frown as he explained.

"Well, you see…" he said.

Jaden cut Shou off as she surprised him with a wide grin.

"Still, there's still some time left until the skills test!" said Jaden. "Let's hurry up and get working on our decks!"

Shou's eyes began to water at Jaden's generosity.

"Aniki…" said Shou.

"Wait just a minute there!" said a voice.

Shou, Jaden, and the counter lady turned to see an older lady walk up to them. Jaden smiled, recognizing the lady as the one she helped out earlier.

"Ah, it's Granny from this morning!" said Jaden.

The older lady looked at Jaden kindly.

"It's not 'Granny'," she said. "Call me 'Tome'."

Tome winked at Jaden as she enunciated her name.

"_To_-_me_!" said Tome.

Jaden smiled at Tome.

"So, you work at the store, Tome-san, huh?" said Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden questioningly.

"Do you know her, Aniki?" asked Shou.

Jaden scratched the side of her head idly with her finger.

"For certain reasons, I guess," she said.

Tome waved at Jaden to catch her attention.

"That aside, come on over here," said Tome.

Both Jaden and Shou looked at Tome, who was covering her mouth as she giggled.

"I've got something that's very nice, ma'am," she said, giggling a little harder.

Jaden looked at Tome perplexed, as did Shou and especially the counter girl.

"How'd you know?" asked Jaden.

Tome waved her hand as she giggled.

"Daitokuji mentioned your late arrival," explained Tome. "I already knew about your gender misconception, and I put two and two together, so you must be Jaden."

Jaden nodded as Tome smiled and motioned at the gender-mistaken girl.

"Now come here," said Tome.

* * *

~meanwhile~

Manjoume and his groupies walked together as they explained to him about the cards.

"Who was that guy?" asked Taiyou. "How dare he buy up all those cards…"

Raizou nodded in agreement.

"We weren't able to buy a single thing…" he groused. "What'll we do about this afternoon's test?"

Manjoume stopped walking, his groupies doing likewise.

"Just keep calm," said Manjoume. "You don't need to stock up on any new cards just for some dumb monthly test."

Manjoume looked at the two boys, his expression calm.

"There's nobody in Obelisk Blue who can beat _me_, anyway," said Manjoume.

"But what if your opponent was Jaden Yuki?" asked a voice.

Manjoume turned, scowling at the mention of that name.

"What?" he said.

Manjoume and his groupies looked at a man in a black trench coat standing at the top of the steps.

"Can you beat Jaden with your deck as it is?" the man asked.

Manjoume's groupies scowled at the man, recognizing him as the one who bought all the cards.

"You're the one…who bought up all the cards!" said Taiyou.

"Those cards are all…right here!" the man exclaimed, opening his trench coat to reveal an array of cards lined up on the inside of the coat.

Both Taiyou and Raizou gasped.

"Who are you?" asked Raizou.

"What's the point in buying up all those cards?" asked Taiyou.

The man laughed.

"Still clueless, Signore Manjoume?" asked the man. "As to…who I really am!"

The man had taken off his trench coat and hat, revealing him to be…Professor Chronos.

"It's the guy who lost to Jaden Yuki, Professor Chronos!" said Raizou.

Professor Chronos fell back anime-style and recovered quickly.

"A dropout boy like Jaden Yuki must be crushed by elites such as yourselves before it's too late," Professor Chronos said as he pointed at Manjoume. "That's why I'm instructing you to do it! Fight against Jaden!"

"But the practical test is conducted between members of the same dorm!" said Manjoume.

"Leave everything to me!" said Professor Chronos. "And we'll make that Dropout Boy remember that we elites are the rare ones around here!"

Professor Chronos laughed.

* * *

~later~

The expression Jaden showed was priceless to Professor Chronos after he explained who she was dueling.

"Why am I dueling Manjoume?" asked Jaden.

Professor Chronos walked up to Jaden and Manjoume.

"Since you scored so well on the entry exam (obviously sarcasm), you wouldn't match up evenly against any Osiris Red student," Professor Chronos explained as he pointed at Manjoume. "Which is why we have judged that Signore Manjoume is a much more suitable opponent for you… Of course, if you win, you will be promoted to Ra Yellow."

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she looked at Manjoume. Manjoume leered at her, enjoying the fact that she was slightly nervous.

"So, how does that sound to you, Jaden Yuki-_kun_?" Professor Chronos asked, putting emphasis on the 'kun'."

Jaden looked fiercely at Professor Chronos as she realized that he was using her gender misconception as an insult. Grinning inwardly, Jaden decided to take up on the offer as everyone within the gymnasium watched with eager fascination. Shou was by all means surprised with what was going on.

"_I knew that Aniki was awesome,"_ he thought.

Standing next to Shou, was Daichi, who watched what was going on below with a serious expression.

"_If Jaden wins, he'll be in the same dorm I am," _thought Daichi. _"He just enrolled here and already he's…"_

"Fine by me!" exclaimed Jaden.

This caught everyone by surprise in the gymnasium, especially Daichi, whose expression was astonished as Jaden continued on.

"I want to duel against all kinds of people," Jaden stated, holding up her fist as she grinned. "I want to take on challenges, no matter who they're from!"

Professor Chronos grinned.

"Then, you'll accept the duel with Signore Manjoume?" asked Professor Chronos.

Manjoume smirked at Jaden, amused with her reaction.

"All right," said Manjoume. "I'm going to settle what we started before."

"Yeah!" he and Jaden exclaimed.

Both duelists placed their decks within their duel disks as Professor Chronos ran away from them as the duel began.

"Duel!" they said.

Jaden:

LP

4000

"Let's go, Manjoume!" said Jaden.

Manjoume:

LP

4000

"That's Manjoume-_san_!" snapped Manjoume.

Jaden ignored Manjoume and reached for her deck.

"I'll go first," Jaden said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

A 'kuri kuri' sound was made and Jaden knew who it immediately was. Looking at her card, she smiled at the winged fur ball.

"So it's you, Winged Kuriboh?" asked Jaden.

Smirking at Manjoume, Jaden felt reassured.

"_Partner…you coming out right from the jump is reassuring," _thought Jaden._ "In that case, I'll…"_

Jaden held up her card as she exclaimed, "I'll summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode!"

The golem-like Elemental Hero appeared on the field in a defensive stance.

DEF 2000

Everyone except Manjoume was surprised with Jaden's actions.

"I end my turn," said Jaden.

Manjoume laughed quietly at Jaden's actions.

"Your worthless Hero deck full of smallfries…" said Manjoume. "I'll show you just how fragile you are!"

Jaden's smile ceased as Manjoume called out his turn.

"Draw!" said Manjoume.

Manjoume smirked at Jaden's changed expression and the fact that the card he drew was the one he got from Professor Chronos.

"_And already, it's a rare card I got from Professor Chronos…"_ thought Manjoume. "I activate the spell card, Magical Mallet!"

Jaden clenched her teeth as she prevented herself from gasping. Like hell she was going to show Manjoume what he expected her to do. However, the same could not go to her vocal reaction.

"What!" she exclaimed.

Manjoume smirked and began his explanation.

"By shuffling this card, along with any cards I don't want in my hand, back into my deck…I'll draw that many new cards!" explained Manjoume. He looked at all four cards in his hand and smirked. "And now, I'll…"

Shou gasped.

"Huh?" exclaimed Shou. "He's going to replace all four cards!"

Daichi, keeping his expression neutral and serious, explained to Shou, Manjoume's intentions.

"If you can drop any cards from your hand you don't want and replace them…your chances of getting the cards you want into your hand gets higher," said Daichi.

"What's more, Magical Mallet isn't a one-time use card," said Manjoume. "Since it'll keep returning to my deck, it'll keep going right back into my hand."

As if to prove his point, Manjoume drew one card and showed it to Jaden. Jaden's eyes widened as she gasped. It was Magical Mallet.

"_No way…"_ thought Jaden.

Smirking, Manjoume activated Magical Mallet again.

"I'll return Magical Mallet and another card into my deck and draw two cards again!" Manjoume said, holding up a card he drew. "Come forth! I summon V-Tiger Jet in attack mode!"

A huge, tiger-like jet appeared on the Manjoume's side of the field.

ATK 1600

However, Manjoume's turn was far from over.

A/N Yeesh, this is gonna be a long one. Curse you Manjoume and your uber long turns!

"Next, from my hand, I activate the continuous spell card, Frontline Base!" said Manjoume.

At that moment, Jaden cursed mentally after hearing the word 'continuous'.

"_Let's see what Manjoume has in mind…"_ thought Jaden.

"Once each turn, I can special summon a Level-4 or below monster from my hand!" explained Manjoume. "And this turn, I'll special summon W-Wing Catapult in attack mode!"

Jaden clenched her teeth as a blue, plane-like monster appeared on Manjoume's side of the field.

"Gentlemen start your engines," said Manjoume. "Now merge!"

W-Wing Catapult and V-Tiger Jet flew up into the air and merged with each other by connecting to one another (V-Tiger on top, W-Wing Catapult on bottom).

"VW-Tiger Catapult!" said Manjoume.

ATK 2000

Manjoume's turn was interrupted by something that annoyed him to no end…a loud yawn from Jaden. Jaden closed her eyes and opened her mouth wide, covering it with her hand, as she yawned loudly, tears welding up in her eyes. As she rubbed her eyes, Manjoume glared at her with daggers.

"Think you're funny, huh?" said Manjoume.

Jaden blinked and stared at VW-Tiger Catapult.

"Holy Ra, when did that get there?" exclaimed Jaden.

Everyone within the gymnasium (after sweat dropping) swore they could've seen the red rage emanating from Manjoume (ironic, ain't it?) as a vein popped out on his forehead. However, he quickly calmed down after seeing the look on Jaden's face.

"Shocked, are you, Jaden?" Manjoume asked, smirking at Jaden. "However, my turn has far from ended yet."

Jaden clenched her teeth and growled.

"Oh, c'mon!" said Jaden. "You're like Safer Sephiroth when he's using Super Nova! The only difference is you're missing the badass soundtrack and the fact that this is going _way_ over two to three minutes!"

Manjoume didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or insult (hey, he was just compared with one of the ultimate badass villains in video game history). He decided to do the most obvious thing anyone would do in a situation like his…ignore Jaden.

"Next, I activate VW-Tiger Catapult's special effect!" said Manjoume.

"That's not good," said Jaden.

Manjoume smirked.

"By discarding a card in my hand, it switches an opponent's monster into attack mode!" said Manjoume.

Jaden's eyes widened.

"What?" exclaimed Jaden. _"Aw, crap…"_

Shou and Daichi were surprised as Jaden was.

"No fair!" said Shou. "If his 800-ATK Clayman gets hit with an attack…"

Manjoume laughed as Clayman switched from his defensive stance to an offensive one. The card underneath Clayman shattered into multiple pieces as Manjoume made his next move.

"Here I go, Jaden!" said Manjoume. "VW-Tiger Missiles, fire! Eradicate Clayman!"

Missiles were launched from VW-Tiger Catapult and aimed right where Clayman was. One of the missiles hit Clayman while the others around Jaden, covering her side of the field in smoke while Clayman was destroyed.

Jaden:

LP

2800

Once the smoke cleared, Jaden stared at her now empty field. Shou looked at her with concern.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

Watching the duel from above in a different room, were Professor Chronos and Samejima. Professor Chronos grinned as he pressed his hands against the glass to support himself as he got a closer look at the duel.

"Bravo!" he said. "Signore Manjoume has certainly mastered the tactics he's added in to their fullest!"

Samejima watched the duel closely as Manjoume placed a card face down to finish his turn. Jaden clenched her teeth and swung her arm.

"That's nothing!" said Jaden. "The duel has just begun…literally no thanks to your long turns, Safer Sephiroth!"

Manjoume scowled at Jaden, whom ignored him as she reached for her deck.

"Here goes…draw!" Jaden said, drawing a card. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in defense mode!"

Sparkman appeared on the field with a somewhat glamorous entrance before taking a defensive stance.

DEF 1400

"I place a card face-down to end my turn," said Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden surprised.

"Huh?" said Shou. "Defense mode isn't like Aniki at all…"

"With what he's facing at 2000 ATK, it must be the only thing he _can_ do," said Daichi.

Shou looked at Daichi.

"B-But…" he said.

Asuka, somewhere within the gymnasium, looked at Jaden concerned.

"_Jaden, this can't be all you've got…"_ thought Asuka.

Jaden grinned at Manjoume.

"Your turn, Safer Sephiroth!" said Jaden.

Manjoume scowled.

"Quit it with that!" snapped Manjoume.

Jaden grinned.

"Make me, mother lover," said Jaden. "If ya can, that is."

A/N Sephiroth loves his mommy…even though Jenova isn't his mother. Dammit Lucrecia! All because of a stupid experiment…

Manjoume drew a card and looked at it, smirking afterwards.

"Try me," Manjoume said, playing the card. "I summon X-Head Cannon in attack mode! Next, with the effect of the continuous spell card, Frontline Base, I special-summon Z-Metal Tank!"

With X-Head Cannon (ATK 1800) and Z-Metal Tank (ATK 1500) on the field with VW-Tiger Catapult, Jaden looked at them, astonished.

"Y-You couldn't…!" said Jaden.

Manjoume's smirk widened.

"As I said before, try me," said Manjoume.

Shou and Bastion looked at Manjoume's monsters agape.

"Since he has X and Z, that means the only card left is…!" said Shou.

"Reverse card, open!" Manjoume said, his face-down card turning up. "I can use Call of the Living Dead's effect to revive a Monster card from my graveyard! And that monster is…"

A red, robotic-like dragon appeared on the field.

"It's Y!" exclaimed Shou.

Daichi clenched his teeth.

"T-This is bad!" said Daichi.

Jaden looked up and spotted Daichi. She was already anxious enough… she didn't need anyone pointing the worst out.

"Not helping!" exclaimed Jaden.

Daichi jolted and looked down nervously. Manjoume noticed Jaden's anxiety and continued on.

"Here we go, Jaden!" said Manjoume. "I combine X, Y, and Z together!"

As the said monsters merged together, Jaden snorted and placed her hands by her mouth's sides and whispered/shouted at Manjoume.

"Safer Sephiroth!" echoed Jaden. "Watch out for Cloud's Omnislash!"

A vein popped on the side of Manjoume's forehead.

"Shut the hell up!" snapped Manjoume.

Everyone within the gymnasium looked at the field agape.

"There are two monsters on the field with an ATK of 2000 or higher…" said Daichi. "Does Jaden have any chance of winning?"

Jaden clenched her teeth as she tried to calm down…however, Manjoume prevented that.

"There's more!" said Manjoume.

Jaden gasped and growled.

"Nobody…say…a word!" yelled Jaden. "That means you two, Daichi, Shou!"

Daichi and Shou clamped up and blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"I'm not done yet!" said Manjoume. "I'm going to use my VW-Tiger Catapult and my XYZ-Dragon Cannon (ATK 2800) for a combination summon again!"

Jaden growled through her clenched teeth.

"Again?" said Jaden.

XYZ-Dragon Cannon and VW-Tiger Catapult flew into the air and combined with one another, forming into a huge, bipedal-monster (A/N Transformers anyone?).

ATK 3000

"This is my V-to-Z Dragon Catapult Cannon!" said Manjoume.

Jaden, as well as the rest of her friends, looked at V-to-Z Dragon Catapult Dragon agape in shock.

"And V-to-Z's special ability activates!" said Manjoume.

A small whirlwind surrounded Jaden's Sparkman and caused him to disappear. Jaden gasped at the lost of her Elemental Hero.

"Sparkman…!" said Jaden.

Jaden looked at Chazz and V-to-Z Dragon Catapult Cannon slightly intimidated. Manjoume noticed this and was amused.

"A pity, isn't it, Jaden?" asked Manjoume. "V-to-Z is able to remove an opponent's card once per turn. Taste and savor it. The sadness of the one who has nothing…"

Jaden clenched her teeth and growled.

"Are you even done yet, Aerith-murderer!" snapped Jaden.

Something within Manjoume snapped.

"That's it!" said Manjoume. "Your life points are mine!"

* * *

~meanwhile with Samejima and Chronos~

Professor Chronos watched the duel eagerly.

"This is simply the best!" said Professor Chronos. "That dropout boy will be _dropping_ any moment now!"

* * *

~back to the duel~

"V-to-Z, attack that player directly!" said Manjoume.

Jaden grinned.

"Heh, you fell for it…" said Jaden. "Reverse Trap, open! A Hero Emerges!"

Professor Chronos, watching the match, pressed his face against the glass.

"What?" he said.

Manjoume was taken aback with Jaden's sudden resilience and trap card.

"A Hero what?" said Manjoume.

Jaden grinned at Manjoume.

"A Hero Emerges…and you say you're the top best in your class?" asked Jaden.

Manjoume scowled as Jaden laughed a bit.

"Here goes!" said Jaden. "You have to choose a card from my hand and if it's a monster, I get to play it."

Jaden closed her eyes and smiled at Manjoume as she held up her finger.

"C'mon and choose, Manjoume!" said Jaden.

Manjoume growled at Jaden's cheery voice, but found it slightly cute. Eyes widening, he killed whatever thought within his mind made him think that.

"It's Manjoume-_san_!" corrected Manjoume. "The leftmost card!"

Jaden opened her eyes and moved her right hand over her card. She froze, causing Manjoume to smirk.

"What's wrong?" asked Manjoume. "Not what you expected?"

Jaden shook her head and…laughed.

"My left or your left?" asked Jaden.

Everyone watching the duel (including Manjoume) fell back anime-style from Jaden's question. Manjoume recovered and growled at Jaden.

"_Your_ left, you idiot!" said Manjoume.

Jaden laughed awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head. She looked over at the leftmost card in her deck and made a serious face as she picked it.

"Lucky!" said Jaden. "I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in defense mode!"

The fire-manipulating and only woman among the Elemental Heroes (A/N That's what it says on her card!) appeared on Jaden's side of the field in a defensive stance. Manjoume smirked.

DEF 800

"I won't let it be in defense mode!" said Manjoume. "When V-to-Z attacks, the monster's battle mode is completely up to me!"

Jaden growled.

"Just get on with it, One-Winged Angel Menace!" snapped Jaden.

Manjoume growled.

"That is it!" said Manjoume. "Your life points are mine and there are no more cards on your field to help you this time! V-to-Z! Ultimate Destruction!"

Burstinatrix stood up from her defensive stance into her offensive one (ATK 1200). She yelled in pain from the laser shots shot at her from V-to-Z. Jaden braced herself from the life point-reducing attack.

Jaden:

LP

1000

Shou looked concerned at Jaden whilst Professor Chronos laughed.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

Manjoume smirked.

"I end my turn," he said. "Once again, you're totally exposed."

Jaden's face turned red as she yelped and covered herself as she looked herself over.

"Where?" yelled Jaden.

Manjoume sweat dropped. Jaden took him seriously…in a different way. He growled and stomped his foot.

"Not in that way, you _Square Enix-_villain-referring dropout!" snapped Manjoume. "I meant your field!"

Jaden blinked and laughed awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Ehehe…" said Jaden. "By the way…_nice_ comeback."

Manjoume growled and ignored Jaden.

"You don't have a single monster on your field," said Manjoume.

Jaden crossed her arms and diverted her eyes on something else.

"Tell me something I don't _know_!" said Jaden. "Now shut up and let me have my turn! And that's not a request! It's an order, you Jenova-loving 1st class SOLDIER!"

Manjoume was taken aback with Jaden's outburst, though he glared at her because of the Sephiroth reference. Jaden ignored his glare and reached for her deck.

"I…believe in my deck," said Jaden. "As long as there are monsters that'll fight by my side until the very end in here, I'll keep on fighting! Draw!"

Jaden picked out a card and looked at it, gasping as realized what it was.

"_T-This is…"_ thought Jaden.

* * *

~flashback~

_Tome giggled as she called Jaden over._

"_Come on over here…I nabbed this for you!" Tome said as she held out a green packet. "This is my thanks for helping me push my car. Because I thought an Osiris Red fellow like you probably doesn't have a single rare card!"_

_Jaden looked astonished at the packet presented to her._

~end of flashback~

* * *

A 'kuri kuri' brought Jaden out of her flashback. Bring her cards closer to herself, she spotted Winged Kuriboh.

"Winged Kuriboh, do you sense something?" Jaden asked her partner.

Winged Kuriboh responded with a 'kuri kuri'. Jaden nodded.

"If you insist, I'll bet everything on this card!" Jaden said, playing her card. "I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!"

The green-pawed, brown-furred furball with wings appeared on the field looked at the opposite side of the field with his big, brown eyes.

DEF 200

About most of the female population residing in the gymnasium all squealed over Winged Kuriboh.

"Cu~tie!" they squealed.

Hearts were literally floating around in the air from the girls, and Manjoume had to wave his arm about to get rid of them since Jaden decided to blow the hearts in her directions at him. Shou and Daichi stared at the squealing girls next to them.

A/N Let it be known, Winged Kuriboh will get you chicks. XD

Jaden placed a face-down card and finished her turn. She fixed her gaze on Winged Kuriboh and inwardly squealed. Shou stared at Jaden, concerned with her choice.

"Defense mode, again…" said Shou. "Have you run out of options, Aniki?"

Asuka, expression surprised, overheard Syrus.

"_No, that Winged Kuriboh is his option!"_ she thought.

"My turn," said Manjoume. "Draw!"

Manjoume drew a card and smirked at Jaden.

"It's useless!" said Manjoume. "Even if that annoying furball that reduces battle damage to 0 is there, V-to-Z's special effect will remove it!"

Jaden clenched her teeth.

"Then just try!" said Jaden.

Manjoume grinned.

"With pleasure," he said. "Wipe out that Winged Kuriboh, and then attack Jaden directly! Ultimate Destruction!"

Shou and Daichi stared at Jaden wide-eyed.

"Jaden's done for!" said Shou. "Winged Kuriboh won't last a second against it!"

"Not helping!" yelled Jaden.

Shou clamped up again and watched in horror as V-to-Z shot at Winged Kuriboh with its laser.

"Here it is, Partner!" said Jaden. "I sacrifice two cards and play…Transcendent Wings."

Professor Chronos exclaimed in astonishment at the surprise attack.

"What?" said Professor Chronos.

Winged Kuriboh's wings elongated and outstretched themselves as the laser hit him. The laser has absolutely no affect. This shocked Manjoume, his eyes widening.

"W-What's happening?" asked Manjoume.

Jaden grinned.

"Thanks to Transcendent Wings, Winged Kuriboh evolves!" said Jaden. "Now, Winged Kuriboh's a Level-10!"

Everyone watching the duel gasped at Winged Kuriboh's sudden appearance change.

"His effect lets him sacrifice himself to destroy all monsters in attack mode…dealing their ATK as damage to the opposing player!" explained Jaden.

Manjoume's eyes widened as he stared awestruck at Jaden. Jaden wagged her finger at Manjoume as she winked, sticking out her tongue at him.

"Nyah~!" said Jaden. "Bet you didn't expect that!"

Despite being shocked, what Jaden just did was without a doubt, cute. As everyone (about half of the male population in the gym and Manjoume) killed that thought violently before burning it to a crisp for good measures, it was replaced with an even more fitting and less-flustering word…immature. Jaden grinned inwardly at catching Manjoume off guard and directed her attack at him.

"Now, Winged Kuriboh, send all that energy right back at him!" said Jaden.

The laser's blue energy surrounded Winged Kuriboh in a sphere. He used his wings to send it back at V-to-Z.

"Kuri kuri!" yelled Winged Kuriboh.

V-to-Z was immediately destroyed, making Manjoume lose 3000 of his life points.

Manjoume:

LP

1000

Manjoume scowled at Jaden.

"I end my turn," he said.

"Manjoume!" said Jaden.

Manjoume gasped and looked at Jaden.

"Now our life points are at 1000 a piece," said Jaden. "But it'd be interesting if I draw a monster with an ATK of 1000 or higher, wouldn't it?"

Manjoume scowled at Jaden.

"What crap are you spewing?" snapped Manjoume. "As if it'd be that simple!"

Jaden grinned at Manjoume, her hand by her deck.

"But it'd be interesting if I draw one, wouldn't it?" asked Jaden. "My turn. Draw!"

Jaden stared at her card and held it up.

"I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!" said Jaden.

ATK 1000

Elemental Hero Avian appeared on the field, shocking Professor Chronos and Shou with his appearance.

"And I attack the player directly!" said Jaden. "Go, Avian!"

The wind manipulating Elemental Hero flew straight at Manjoume and slashed at him. Manjoume fell onto the ground on his knees, gritting his teeth from the attack.

Manjoume:

LP

0

Shou watched astonished before breaking into a wide smile and cheering like the rest of the students.

"You did it!" yelled someone.

Shou jumped up and pumped his fist into the air, his grin never leaving his face.

"You did it, Aniki!" said Shou.

Professor Chronos stared at the outcome of the duel with disbelief. Samejima had his hands on his hips.

"To have that many rare cards and lose…" said Professor Chronos.

Samejima stared at Professor Chronos and grinned.

"It appears that there _were_ grounds for her beating you, Professor Chronos," said Samejima.

Professor Chronos froze and began to walk out of the room.

"You really _must_ excuse me!" said Professor Chronos.

Chuckling, Samejima stared at Jaden as she made her hand gesture by extending her index and middle finger in a quick salute and winked.

"Gotcha!" she said. "That sure was a fun duel!"

Manjoume was still on the ground from his loss. He looked up at Jaden and glared at her with daggers.

"Jaden…" said Manjoume.

Jaden kept smiled as Shou and Daichi ran up to him.

"Hey!" shouted Shou. "Hey, Aniki!"

Jaden looked back at Shou and Daichi. Suddenly, Samejima spoke on the intercom.

"**You have shown me, Jaden Yuki,"** said Samejima. **"Your trust in your deck, your passionate friendship with your monsters…and most importantly, a dueling soul that never gives up in a fight… These are things I'm sure everyone here has acknowledged. So, as the winner, Yuki-kun, you are…being promoted to Ra Yellow!"**

The crowed congratulated Jaden for her promotion. Jaden rubbed the back of her head and yelped slightly when Shou jumped and grabbed her around the waist, giving her a hug.

"You're incredible!" said Shou. "You're just awesome, Aniki! You've overwhelm me!"

Jaden laughed and smiled.

"Aren't I though?" said Jaden.

Daichi placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder, causing her to look up.

"Jaden Yuki, congratulations, and welcome to Ra Yellow," said Daichi.

Holding out his hand, Daichi smiled at Jaden. Jaden smiled and took his hand.

"Yeah!" said Jaden.

Daichi pulled Jaden closer to himself and ruffled her hair.

"Sorry, but I've wanted to do that for a while," said Daichi.

Jaden smiled and laughed as confetti was thrown down from the ceiling. The students cheered for Jaden. As Jaden laughed, Shou stared at her with awe and happiness.

"_So, now, Aniki is an official Ra Yellow student,"_ thought Shou. _"It's gonna be lonely being separated from my Aniki, but…I suppose this is for the best."_

Jaden waved to everyone as they clapped for her.

"_Congratulations, Aniki…"_ thought Shou. _"Congratulations!"_

* * *

~later in the Osiris Red dorm~

Shou had just explained to Hayato what had happened.

"Pretty strange…" said Hayato. "There's no way a guy could switch from Osiris Red so quickly, after all."

Hayato stared at Shou, who was sitting by the desk, from his bed.

"That may be, but Aniki's already off in Ra Yellow…" said Shou. "And remember, Aniki's a girl."

"Then why don't you call her 'Aneki'?" asked Hayato.

"Force of habit," said Shou. "She doesn't mind."

A/N Told ya.

The door suddenly opened and the person Shou least expected to come back entered.

"'Sup, guys!" said Jaden.

Shou stood up from his seat, ecstatic though surprised at the sight of Jaden.

"'Sup…guys…?" repeated Shou. "What're you doing here?"

Jaden had her hands on her hips.

"Why am I here?" asked Jaden. "This is my room, ya know! Well…for a few more weeks, it is, but I digress."

Jaden shrugged.

"Where's the harm in me coming back to my room?" she asked, grinning and placing her hands on her hips. "That's right! I like it here!"

Jaden threw her hands into the air.

"I like Osiris Red, the same red as seething flames, boiling blood…er, and fervent zeal!" said Jaden. "I never _ever_ plan on leaving!"

For some reason, something within Shou was overjoyed at that statement. To show it, Shou ran towards Jaden.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

Shou wrapped his arms around Jaden's waist and hugged her tightly as he cried in happiness. Jaden's eyes widened as she found it rather surprising for Shou to be _this_ close to her and not to mention, _this_ emotional.

"You dummy!" said Jaden. "Let go of me, Shou! You're smothering me!"

Shou looked up at Jaden with water eyes.

"I'm so happy, Aniki!" sobbed Shou. "To think that we still get to stay together!"

Shou buried his face within Jaden's chest, unintentionally causing her to blush.

"Hey!" said Jaden.

Shou tightened his hug as he continued to cry.

"Please, just let me cry for today!" he said.

"You're in my personal bubble and pressing against my chest!" Jaden said, pushing Shou's head away from her.

Shou's tears streamed out of his eyes he kept his hold on Jaden.

"Aniki!" said Shou. "I'm going to follow you forever!"

Jaden, beginning to get a bit freaked out, tried to pull Shou off.

"Aah!" said Jaden. "Back off! This is too awkward!"

Shou ignored Jaden as he cried.

"Aniki!" said Shou. "I'm going to follow you forever!"

Jaden continued to push Shou away.

"I don't care if you'll follow me, just back off!" said Jaden. "May I remind you, I'm a girl and this…this is just too awkward!"

Jaden couldn't help but laugh. She laughed so hard, she was to tears as she realized how she was reacting.

"Haha!" she said. "I guess you called this 'Passion Red'!"

Shou continued to cry in happiness and managed to break Jaden's hold on him. Pressing himself against her as he left a wet spot on her shirt, he continued to cry as he hugged her tightly.

"Anikiii!" sobbed Shou.

Jaden laughed hard as she tried to pull Syrus off.

"Koala-man, help me!" said Jaden.

Hayato burst into laughter at the sight of his roommates' antics.

"Oh, c'mon!" said Jaden.

"This is better than television!" said Hayato.

"Aniki!" wailed Shou.

Daitokuji walked into the room after hearing complaints from the other students.

"What's going on-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Daitokuji sweat dropped at the sight of a laughing Hayato, crying and clingy Shou, and Jaden…he didn't know what to say. After a few seconds he laughed along with them. Jaden continued to try and pull Shou off, her eyes turning huge and shining unshed tears (AKA, puppy dog eyes).

"Guys!" she whined.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

"Shut the hell up!" yelled the other residence of the dorm.

Daitokuji sighed and grinned. This was just another average (in his definition of average) day.

* * *

A/N End of chapter and I already had this chapter typed up. I was just editing the names and that took about an hour. And again, this chapter was actually part of another that together made _35_ pages and over 15,000 words. Expect the next chapter up somewhere either today or tomorrow. Aside from that…the comparison between Sephiroth and Manjoume was just something caused by watching an FFVII walkthrough and realizing how long their turns lasted and…yeah, pretty much that's where Jaden picked up the tease.

Well, remember! Constructive criticism is welcomed, reviews…it be nice of you, but I'm not pushing it. Flames…HELL NO! I'm trying as hard as I can with the limited time I have today, and if you don't like it…then why the hell are you reading it? I just put this story up because this plot bunny involving this came up and keeps plaguing me! So yeah…whatever.


	4. Turn 04

Chapter Four

When They Heard of Shadow Games…

With exams over, school was out for a full week to let those who wanted to retake the test study. As for those who didn't…they made the most of their week hanging out with friends, powering up their decks while creating new strategies, and, at the current moment, staying up late and telling scary stories.

A/N Once again, I'm guessing on the date.

As the week came to an end, Asuka Tenjoin stood in front of an old building as nighttime came. In her hand was a red rose, which she placed near the front of a statue. Looking at the building with a somber expression, she whispered.

"Be at peace…wherever you are," she said.

* * *

~meanwhile~

As the moon was full and a pearly-white color in the dark blue sky, within the Osiris Red Dorms, our favorite roomies were making the most of their last day of no classes telling scary stories (as said before).

"On a cliff on the north part of this island, there's…a cave," said Shou.

Jaden and Hayato listened eagerly as they and Shou sat by a table within the dining room, the only source of light coming from a lit candle settled on said table. Lain around the candle, were cards.

"Yeah, go on," said Jaden.

"Mm-hm," agreed Hayato.

Shou made his face look even more serious as he continued on.

"Deep in the cave is a small inlet…" continued Shou, "…and when night falls, moonlight will shine from the ceiling."

"Yeah?" said Hayato. "Yeah?"

"Then, when you look in at the bottom of the inlet…a card you want shows up at the bottom of the water," said Shou.

Jaden had her elbow propped onto the table with her cheek leaning on her fist. She smirked.

"I'd know what card you want," she said in a teasing tone. "Dark Magician Girl~!"

Shou's expression went from serious to nervous as his face burned red. Jaden and Hayato snickered before letting Shou continue on.

"As I was saying…they say, when you reach for it…you'll suddenly get yourself pulled into the ocean!" Shou shouted as he pulled on a terrified face.

At that moment, something pulled on Jaden's pant leg. Her eyes widened as she screamed. Hayato yelled along with her.

"YAAHHH!" screamed Jaden and Hayato.

Hayato then realized what had caused Jaden to scream after Shou caught his attention and pointed down under the table. After seeing what was under, both Shou and Hayato laughed as Jaden freaked out. When Shou dived down to see what was going on, he came up with Pharaoh in his arms. He was snickering as he held up a small plant that Pharaoh seemed to be pawing at it while purring.

"Sorry, Aniki," said Shou. "But I couldn't resist!"

Jaden crossed her arms and turned her head away as Shou and Hayato laughed. Shou had placed catnip on Jaden's pant leg, as a result, attracted Pharaoh to Jaden's leg and getting the results that had just happened. Jaden sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

Jaden had to hand it Shou, it was pure genius. However, it didn't last long as she placed both hands on the table to support herself as she leaned over the table.

"I wanna go see that inlet!" said Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden surprised.

"Aniki, aren't you mixed up?" he asked.

Shou propped his elbow on the table, his hand under his cheek for support as he sighed, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

"I just told you a _scary_ story," said Shou.

Jaden blinked and picked up the card Shou drew.

"Well, I guess that's the best a Level-4 story can offer, huh?" said Jaden.

Jaden placed her hand on the deck as she drew a card.

"Right, it's my turn," she said, turning the card over. "Oh, Killer Snake, huh?"

Shou closed his eyes.

"Tch, a Level-1?" said Shou. "Must be nice making up an easy story…"

Jaden smiled and laughed.

"Heh, heh…let's see…" she said. "My Level-1 story…Hmm…come to think of it, back when I was a tyke…"

Jaden propped both of her elbows on the table, both hands under her cheeks for support as she began to reminisce.

"When night came around, I could hear my monster's voice…" said Jaden.

Shou and Hayato listened as Jaden continued on.

"Just like the fairies you'd seen in fairytales," said Jaden.

* * *

~Jaden's flashback/story~

_In a somewhat big bed, sleeping inside it was a small little kid with dual-colored hair wearing red flannel pajamas. It was Jaden back when she was a tyke._

A/N Feel free to squeal at the sight of a younger Jaden. I know some of you want to.

_Some strange voices woke Jaden up. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes as a glowing light caught her attention. She was now wide-eyed and awake, curious as to what the glow and voices were. Getting out of bed, she stopped right in front of her closet as it was the source of the strange voices and light. Reaching for the doorknob, the present day Jaden continued explaining._

"**I thought the monsters would come out of their cards to have parties and stuff while I was sleeping," explained Jaden.**

_Tyke-Jaden grabbed the doorknob, the light waning and disappearing as she turned the knob. She opened the door and peered inside her closet. The only things inside were a couple of chests, a drawer, a pair of huge dice toys, and a small slide…and her deck. Entering the room, she walked towards her deck within its card case._

"**When I woke up in the dead of night, I would open up my card case," said Jaden.**

_Tyke-Jaden knelt down and picked up her card case, which she had to do with both hands seeing as it was too big for her to hold with one hand without difficulties. Opening the top of the case, she stared into it curiously._

* * *

~back outside the story/flashback vision~

Shou leaned onto the table in 'I'm on the edge of my seat' way as he eagerly listened like Hayato.

"And?" asked Shou.

Jaden, still in the same position, smiled with her eyes closed.

"Absolutely nada," she said.

Shou lowered his forehead onto the table in slight irritation and disappointment. Hayato sighed.

"Oh, _come_ on…" they both said.

Jaden opened her eyes and looked up in wonder.

"But, you know, lately…" she said, remembering Winged Kuriboh's 'kuri kuri' sounds. "I'm able to hear 'em again…"

Jaden scratched the side her head idly as someone behind her laughed. Eyes widening, she froze still and stayed silent.

"What are you all doing-nya?" asked the person behind her.

THUD!

Shou stared wide-eyed at Daitokuji, his arm on the table for support having fallen out of his seat from the startle. Hayato, his chair on the floor, was in the corner staring wide-eyed in fear at Daitokuji. Jaden, a blush tainting her cheeks, glared at the professor with wide-eyes as she tried to calm her pounding heart.

"You scared us!" exclaimed Shou.

"Please don't scare us like that…" said Jaden.

Shou agreed.

"Daitokuji-sensei!" said Shou.

Daitokuji laughed awkwardly, Pharaoh meowing in his arms.

"Sorry, I just came to pick up Pharaoh," explained Daitokuji.

Jaden glared at Shou, who held up his hands to defend himself. Daitokuji laughed. Regaining composure a bit, Shou adjusted his glasses and smiled awkwardly.

"Professor, we're playing a card game where you tell a story equal to the Level of the card you draw," explained Shou.

"That sounds like fun-nya!" Daitokuji said, reaching out for the deck. "Now, let's see here…I'll do it too…"

Daitokuji picked up the card and flipped it over. Jaden looked at it.

"T-There it is!" said Jaden. "A Level-12!"

Shou smiled at Daitokuji.

"Please give us the best you've got, sir!" said Shou.

Daitokuji chuckled.

"Come to think of it, are you aware that there is an abandoned dorm deep within this island-nya?" he asked.

Jaden tilted her head to the side.

"Abandoned dorm?" Jaden asked, perplexed.

Daitokuji nodded.

"Yes," he said. "Apparently, it was a dorm for the academy's honor students long ago, but…every single student in that dorm went missing-nya."

Shou gulped and looked questioningly at the professor.

"Really?" asked Shou.

Daitokuji leaned down a bit to be at his students eye-level.

"I heard they were doing all sorts of research concerning the Shadow Games in that dorm-nya," said Daitokuji.

Hayato supported himself up by grabbing onto a chair after hearing 'Shadow Games'.

"S-Shadow Games?" said Hayato.

Daitokuji, now sitting in a chair by Shou and Jaden, looked at Hayato.

"I'm referring to horrible games that were activated by legendary items-nya," explained Daitokuji.

Jaden, hand under cheek, closed her eyes as she rummaged around her memories as she found the legendary items familiar.

"_Millennium_ Items, right?" asked Jaden.

Opening her eyes and smiling, Jaden looked at Daitokuji.

"I've heard about this," said Jaden. "But it's all just superstition, isn't it?"

Daitokuji laughed.

"I don't know if it's true, either-nya," Daitokuji said, adjusting his glasses. "By the time I came to this Academy, that dorm had been made off-limits-nya."

Pharaoh meowed loudly and Daitokuji stood up from his seat.

"It's about time we get back to our rooms-nya," said Daitokuji. "Well then, good night. Remember, we have classes tomorrow."

Jaden and Shou frowned and watched as Daitokuji walked out.

"Yes, sir…" they said reluctantly.

Shou looked at Jaden.

"Man, I wonder if there's really a place like that on this island," said Shou.

Jaden grinned and looked at Shou.

"Sounds fun!" said Jaden. "Let's go take a look tomorrow night!"

Shou was astonished.

"Huh?" said Shou.

Hayato immediately slid into view after hearing Jaden's proposal.

"I'm a bit scared, but I'd like to go, too," said Hayato.

Shou's eyes widened. It was two against one and Jaden made that official.

"All right!" Jaden said, pumping her fist into the air. "It's settled!"

"It's settled…!" said Hayato.

"Yeah…" Shou said reluctantly.

Outside eavesdropping on the trio's conversation, was Professor Chronos. Laughing to himself, he got a plan in mind.

"Bravo!" he said. "The Shadow Games! I almost forgot about that approach!"

Professor Chronos grinned.

"If I use those rumors to make that dropout disappear, no one will suspect a thing!" said Professor Chronos.

~the next day~

In class,

Daitokuji stared at the sleeping Osiris Red duo, grinning. The students, the ones who arrived to class early, sitting around Shou and Jaden, both sitting in the same seat with their backs against each other, glared at them as they had fallen asleep before classes had _even_ started.

Peering at them from afar was Professor Chronos. Grinning at the plan that he thought up and would initiate tonight, he stared at Jaden, who was peacefully asleep.

"Sleep well, now," said Professor Chronos. "It will be the last dream you'll ever have, anyway. _Totocalcio_…"

A/N Soccer gambling pools.

* * *

Later that day,

Professor Chronos waited by the lighthouse for someone. He turned around and smiled when he saw a tall man with a mask on and a trench coat walk towards him.

"Oh, you must be the self-proclaimed Shadow Duelist," said Professor Chronos.

Smoke began to stream down around the tall man, the Shadow Duelist. Yesterday, Professor Chronos had called the Shadow Duelist to come over to the Academy and do something for him.

"Let's get right to discussing my appearance fee," said the Shadow Duelist. "My appearance fee is a flat rate. It has nothing to do with whatever circumstances my client might have. It's always three months of my client's salary."

Professor Chronos ceased his grin.

"I think that's _very _related to your client's circumstances…" said Professor Chronos. "Whatever… More importantly, will you get the job done?"

"I'm a pro," said the Shadow Duelist. "I never turn my back on my enemies."

Professor Chronos dashed by the Shadow Duelist's side, the duelist turning quickly to face Professor Chronos. Professor Chronos continued trying to see if the Shadow Duelist was telling the truth. Each time he tried, the Shadow Duelist made sure to keep turning to face Professor Chronos.

"Just leave it to me…" the Shadow Duelist said, moving back rather quickly. "You just come when the duel is over…"

Professor Chronos stared as the Shadow Duelist left, the man not once turning his back.

"He _isn't_ turning his back…" said Professor Chronos. "My, he _is_ a professional."

* * *

~meanwhile in the forest~

Jaden carried a flashlight to light the way as she, Shou, and Hayato walked down the forest. Like Jaden, they both also had flashlights turned on.

"Still, I wasn't expecting that Hayato would show up with us," said Jaden. "You even think showing up in class is a hassle."

Hayato looked at Jaden.

"It's not that I don't like staying home or studying, it's just…" said Hayato.

Jaden looked at the koala-like boy, who just so happened to be older than her.

"Just what?" asked Jaden.

"I don't like classes that only teach you how to win duels…" said Hayato.

"Is there any other way to study dueling, besides how to win?" asked Shou.

Hayato stuttered a bit.

"Um…I'm sure there are!" he said. "Take the Shadow Games, for example."

Jaden diverted her eyes at Hayato.

"The Shadow Games, huh?" she said.

~few moments later~

Jaden shined her flashlight around, stopping at a red rose lain out right in front of a sign.

"That flower…" said Jaden.

Shou whined.

"This looks scary!" said Shou.

Looking ahead at the old building, which was without a doubt the abandoned dorm the group was looking for. Shou tried to back up, but Hayato prevented him. The blue-haired boy looked at Jaden as she kept her gaze on the building.

"Aniki, I think we should just give up!" said Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou sternly, her eyes giving a serious expression.

"What are you talking about?" snapped Jaden. "How can we give up after coming _this_ far? I took a fricken' risk coming here! If my dad ever finds out…"

Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping scared the crap out of Hayato and Shou, causing them to both yell.

"I-It's here!" yelled Hayato and Shou.

Jaden gasped and shined her flashlight to the source of the noise.

"Asuka!" said Jaden.

Jaden clenched her teeth as Hayato gripped the top of her head in fright whilst Shou clung onto her arm, the both of them having the same intentions of hiding behind their female roommate. Asuka stared at them wide-eyed, surprised to see them here.

"A-Asuka-san!" said Shou.

Jaden growled.

"Let go of me!" snapped Jaden.

Hayato and Shou let go of Jaden and backed away from her a bit. Jaden glared at them and sighed, looking over at Asuka.

"Why are you here, Asuka?" asked Jaden.

Asuka walked over to the group.

"That's _my_ line," said Asuka. "What are all of _you_ doing here?"

Jaden shrugged and rubbed the back of her head.

"We're doing a little night exploration," answered Jaden.

"None of you know about how many students have gone missing here?" asked Asuka.

Jaden looked away.

"I don't believe in that superstition," she stated.

Asuka stared at the dorm.

"The stories of this dorm are true," said Asuka. "It isn't a place to come to half in sport. Besides, it's supposed to be off-limits."

Asuka looked at Jaden.

"If the Academy knows about this, it'll raise some noise," explained Asuka.

Jaden, being too stubborn for her own good (which she instantly resented), smiled and had no intention of backing down whatsoever.

"We wouldn't be exploring if we were afraid of that," said Jaden.

Asuka looked at Jaden sternly.

"Listen to me, _seriously_!" snapped Asuka.

Jaden was taken aback with Asuka's remark. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"What?" said Jaden. "Stop giving us such a hard time."

Jaden looked at Asuka with an equally stern face.

"And you never answered our question!" said Jaden. "What are you doing here?"

Silence was all that came out of Asuka. Jaden resisted the urge to grin in victory, but the same could not apply to what her thoughts did.

"_Ha!"_ thought Jaden._ "One point for the gender-mistaken Yuki-kun! Well…I'm out of ideas, now."_

A/N Yeah, even Jaden refers to herself with a –kun.

Jaden blinked as Asuka looked down, somewhat hurt.

"Do what you want…" said Asuka.

Asuka began to walk away, making Jaden feel bad as she realized she just came upon a sensitive subject.

"_Aw, crap…I walk right into that one, didn't I?"_ thought Jaden. _"Man, I always miss those hints!"_

"Asuka-san…" said Shou.

Asuka stopped walking.

"My brother was one of the students that disappeared here," said Asuka.

Shou, Hayato, and Jaden looked perplexed at what Asuka had just said.

"Huh?" they said.

Jaden blinked and looked over at the rose by the sign. Putting two and two together, Jaden realized something that would've been the understatement of the century…had she not been serious…hey! She can be serious when she wanted to be, just…yeah.

"_So that's it,"_ thought Jaden. _"Asuka set that rose over there…"_

Jaden looked back at Asuka as she walked away. Looking clueless as usual, she blinked.

"Aniki, about what Asuka-san just said…" Shou said, looking over at the dorm. "I thought the stuff about this place was made up…"

The trio looked at the dorm. Jaden, remembering about Asuka's brother, got an idea that, along with her stubborness, made her decide to stick with her plan of looking around the dorm.

"Well, we'll know once we go in," said Jaden. "Let's go."

"R-Right," said Hayato.

Jaden and Hayato began to walk towards the dorm, Shou left behind.

"You waiting there?" asked Jaden.

"Huh?" exclaimed Shou.

Shou looked around as his roommates left without him. Looking around, he found out very easily how much he did NOT want to be left alone outside. He trailed after Jaden and Hayato after jumping over the 'KEEP OUT' sign.

"Wait up!" shouted Shou. "I'm coming, too!"

Somewhere behind a tree close by the dorm, Asuka watched the trio venture into the dorm. Sighing, she turned around to leave…only to find herself facing a tall man with a mask on and a trench coat. The man smiled as Asuka cursed mentally.

"_Aw, crap…I walked into that one, didn't I?"_ thought Asuka. _"I mean the hints were _obviously_ there…wait! I should be screaming!"_

However, there was no time for Asuka to scream as everything happened in a quick blur, rendering whatever had happened next unknown to the blonde.

* * *

~meanwhile inside the abandoned dorm~

Jaden flashed her flashlight around, taking in the scenery and surroundings as her roommates did likewise.

"It may be all dusty, but it's a major difference from Osiris Red, huh?" said Jaden.

Looking at her friends, Jaden grinned widely.

"Wanna move here instead?" she suggested.

Shou immediately turned to Jaden with wide-eyes.

"Cut that out, Aniki!" said Shou. "I absolutely _won't_!"

Hayato agreed.

"Same here," he said.

Hayato and Shou walked around and looked around, both stopping in front of a wall covered with strange writings.

"D-Did they really play Shadow Games here?" asked Hayato.

Shou gasped and reacted nervously to Hayato's question.

"T-That's just superstition!" stammered Shou.

Jaden, feeling like she was the only one who wasn't at all scared, looked around curiously, stopping when her flashlight shined right on a wall with drawings of strange items. Looking at them, she found them somewhat familiar.

"Huh…there were seven of those Millennium Items…" said Jaden. _"The only time I find things I learned at a museum useful is when I happen to be doing things Dad won't approve of. Heh…"_

Jaden grinned inwardly and shined her flashlight on something else, gasping when she found something rather surprising. It was a somewhat small frame holding a photo of a brown-haired boy who resembled Asuka. On the photo, was a signature written as '_Fubuki 10 Join_'. Jaden blinked.

"Is this…?" Jade said, looking closer at the signature. "Fubuki…10 Join…10 Join…? Tenjoin! Fubuki Tenjoin!"

Shou shined his flashlight on Jaden.

"What's going on, Aniki?" asked Shou.

Jaden waved it off.

"Oh nothing, just a little self-discovery," said Jaden. _"That should've been easier for me to read! Damn, I really miss stuff…"_

Shou walked up to Jaden and looked at the picture.

"This guy looks like Asuka-san," said Shou.

Jaden nodded.

* * *

~meanwhile~

Asuka lied back against something, her eyes shut and beginning to flutter as she woke up. She woke up, eyes wide open as she did the first thing that would seem reasonably for a girl in her situation…see what was on her wrists. She lifted her wrist as she gasped, finding that they had been bound together with a rope.

"What's this?" asked Asuka.

A laugh roused Asuka's attention as she looked around, finding herself in a coffin.

"You're going to be the bait that will lure out Jaden Yuki," said the voice.

Asuka looked around, memories coming back as to what had happened.

"Who's there?" she asked.

A golden, eye-like object shined brightly on Asuka as she remembered what she was going to do before she lost consciousness…and it was a very reasonable thing seeing as she was scared beyond her wits. She screamed loudly.

* * *

~back with the trio~

Shou, Hayato, and Jaden all gasped as they heard Asuka's scream. Shou looked at Jaden.

"Aniki!" said Shou. "That voice just now…!"

Jaden nodded and turned, breaking into a run.

"I know!" said Jaden. "Let's go!"

Shou and Hayato followed after Jaden as she furiously looked around for any sign of where that scream came from. Stopping at the top of the stairs in the entrance room, she shined her flashlight around, gasping when she found something. Breaking into another run, she made her way downstairs with Shou and Hayato trailing after her.

Jaden, being very impatient in this type of situation (I mean, who wouldn't?), decided to jump the rest of the way down the stairs to speed up her search. She landed on her feet and looked around, running towards a small card she spotted a few moments earlier. She knelt down and picked up the card, turning it over as Shou and Hayato ran up to her.

Jaden gasped as she recognized the card as one of Asuka's. Both girls, even though friends, dueled each other time to time, with Jaden winning all of them…though, just barely sometimes.

"Étoile Cyber!" said Jaden. "It's Asuka's!"

Hayato looked around and spotted something very peculiar on the ground.

"There are marks of something being dragged away going that way," Hayato said, directing the group up ahead.

Shou and Jaden gasped. Jaden was the first to react and immediately stood up, breaking into a run right after.

"Asuka!" yelled Jaden.

Shou and Hayato trailed after Jaden.

"Asuka-san!" yelled Shou.

The trio kept running, not once ever slowing down as they ran down the hall. They soon came to an end into a room and stopped when they spotted the person they were looking for…Asuka.

"Asuka!" yelled Jaden.

Jaden's eyes widened as she realized Asuka was in a coffin. A menacing laugh caught her attention, followed by a voice soon after as smoke began to flood the bottom of the room.

"This one's soul has already sunk into a thick darkness," said the voice.

Jaden looked around.

"Who's there!" she asked.

Jaden looked around, gasping when she saw a tall man emerge from the smoke.

"Welcome, Jaden Yuki…" he said.

Jaden growled.

"Who the hell are you and how do you know my name?" yelled Jaden. "You better have not been stalking me!"

The man ignored the second question and the last comment. He looked up and only answered Jaden's first question.

"My name is Titan, the Shadow Duelist," the man said.

Shou looked nervously at the man who called himself Titan.

"Aniki," said Shou.

Jaden clenched her teeth.

"Who the hell are you?" yelled Jaden. "What did you do to Asuka?"

Titan kept his composure, unlike Jaden.

"I am a Shadow Duelist, a controller of the Shadow Games," said Titan.

Hayato looked perplexed.

"Shadow Games?" said Hayato.

Jaden stepped up, her expression obviously not amused.

"Stop messing with me!" snapped Jaden. "There's no such thing as Shadow Games!"

Titan laughed.

"Once you get a taste of it, you'll understand, kid," said Titan. "This is a forbidden domain wherein none are allowed to step foot. I will deal punishment on those who break that vow."

Jaden tightened her fists as Hayato rummaged through the backpack he brought.

"So it's _your_ fault that the people here have gone missing!" said Jaden. "You're going to give us Asuka back!"

Titan grinned at Jaden's remark.

"If you can beat me in a Shadow Game, that is, Jaden Yuki…" said Titan.

Jaden growled and blinked when her duel disk was held up in front of her face. She turned and saw that Hayato had brought her duel disk along with them.

"Why did you bring it?" asked Jaden.

Hayato shrugged.

"Just a precaution," said Hayato.

Jaden nodded and handed Hayato her flashlight as she took her duel disk. After placing it on her left arm, she looked at Titan with determination.

"It'd be my pleasure!" she said.

Titan held out his left arm as his duel disk, one resembling a bat wing, extended from the object on his arm.

A/N Yes, I am _very_ descriptive…note the sarcasm. Damn, stupid thesaurus-like lacking skills! It doesn't help when you don't know _what_ word to use the thesaurus on!

"You'd better not regret this, kid," said Titan.

Jaden snorted as she placed her deck in her duel disk.

"Like I'm going to regret kicking your ass?" scoffed Jaden.

Jaden nodded in approval at the sight of Titan's scowl. She looked over at Asuka.

"Asuka, you saved me once," said Jaden. "Now it's my turn to save you."

Jaden turned and looked at Titan.

"Duel!" they both said.

Jaden:

LP

4000

Titan:

LP

4000

~few moments later~

"Well, I wasn't expecting this," said Jaden.

Apparently, Titan had a demon deck, which should've meant that he would have to pay up life points every standby turn to keep his monsters in play, which was Inferno-Queen Demon…that is if it wasn't for the field spell he activated, Pandemonium-Demon's Den. And if that hadn't been enough, then there was still Inferno-Queen Demon's special ability, which let her gain 1000 ATK and the fact that any monster with 'Demon' in their names have the ability to be reborn when destroyed outside of battle.

Inferno-Queen Demon: ATK 1900

Yeah…now it was Jaden's turn and Titan found her staring at Asuka.

"Whoa, now," said Titan. "If you're so concerned about the girl, then allow me to put her out of your sight."

The coffin Asuka was inside of closed and took her down with it as it submerged into the ground. Jaden's eyes widened.

"Asuka!" yelled Jaden.

Hayato and Shou scowled at Titan's action.

"That's low!" said Hayato.

"You coward!" said Shou.

Titan laughed.

"Say what you will," said Titan. "This is a Shadow Game. If you prefer, I'll make you disappear, as well!"

Shou and Hayato whimpered. Jaden scowled at Titan.

"All I have to do is win…Draw!" Jaden said, drawing out a card from her deck.

Jaden looked at the cards in her hand.

"_I don't have a monster that could beat an ATK of 1900 in my hand, but…"_ thought Jaden. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!"

Elemental Hero Avian appeared on Jaden's side of the field.

ATK 1000

Somewhat satisfied, Jaden set two face-down cards.

"I end my turn," said Jaden.

Titan kept his stoic demeanor.

"It's my turn…draw," Titan said, drawing out a card from his deck. "I'll summon Genocide-King Demon this time in attack mode."

Genocide-King Demon appeared on the field with a whopping 2000 ATK.

"Genocide-King Demon cannot be summoned unless a 'Demon' monster is on my field," Titan said, gesturing at Inferno-Queen Demon. "However, I have Inferno-Queen Demon on my field. And Inferno-Queen Demon's special effect will increase Genocide-King Demon's ATK!"

Genocide-King Demon:

ATK: Previously, 2000

Now…3000!

Jaden gasped.

"A-An ATK of 3000?" said Jaden.

"Feel the anger of my Demons!" said Titan. "Genocide-King Demon, attack Elemental Hero Avian! _Sakuretsu_! _Gozo-roppu_!"

A/N Bursting! Internal Organs!

Genocide-King Demon's ribcage parted open, releasing a swarm of insects at Avian. Jaden grinned.

"Too easy!" said Jaden. "I activate a trap card! Mirror Gate!"

With Mirror Gate activated, Jaden held up her fist as she smiled.

"The card's effect will swap the positions of both monsters during battle, and then resume the battle!" explained Jaden.

Jaden looked at Genocide-King Demon and smiled ecstatically.

"And that means the 3000-ATK Genocide-King Demon will be my monster!" she said.

Shou and Hayato were impressed with Jaden's move.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

"Nice move!" said Hayato.

Titan chuckled darkly, smirking as he already guessed this would happen.

"I knew that you were using your smallfry monster as bait to ambush me with a trap at the very start," said Titan.

Jaden's eyes widened as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"What?" she said. _"Am I really _that_ easy to figure out?"_

"Your petty tricks won't work on my Demon deck," said Titan. "To chain your Mirror Gate trap, I'll activate Genocide-King Demon's special ability!"

Out of the fiery-liquid-like pit that resided within the room Pandemonium-Demon's Den created were six multi-colored small spheres with a number on each of them. The spheres shot out of the pit and soared over to Titan's side. Jaden looked perplexed.

"W-What's that?" asked Jaden.

"Genocide-King Demon's special ability is…" Titan said, beginning his explanation. "When targeted by an opponent's effect, it lets me roll a die. And if it lands on a 2 or 5, it'll negate and destroy that effect!"

Titan held his hand out under the six spheres, lined up in a clockwise position with the numbers in their consecutive order.

"For this duel, I'll be using this roulette instead of a die," explained Titan. "Now, my Roulette of Hell, carry his destiny and begin to turn!"

The spheres were enflamed with a red fire that waned until it was only on the sphere with the number 1. It began to move to the next sphere in a clockwise motion. Jaden watched the roulette with anticipation, as did Hayato and Shou.

Jaden diverted her eyes at her roommates.

"Don't…say…a word," said Jaden. "I don't need to be reminded off what could—"

The flame stopped on 2 as Jaden was cut off by Titan.

"The Roulette landed on 2," said Titan. "Therefore, Genocide-King Demon's special ability activates! Mirror Gate is destroyed!"

Jaden clenched her teeth.

"Aw, dammit!" said Jaden.

"_Sakuretsu_!" said Titan. "_Gozo-roppu_!"

The insects swarmed Avian and exploded, destroying the Elemental Hero. Jaden shielded herself from the blast as her life points took a toll.

Jaden:

LP

2000

"Avian!" said Jaden.

Jaden tightened her fist and glared at Titan.

"But now, I activate my trap card!" she said. "Hero Signal!"

A light shined from the card Jaden activated, leaving a signal in the ceiling.

"When a monster's destroyed in battle, this card will special summon…an 'Elemental Hero' monster from my hand or deck!" said Jaden. "Come on out, Elemental Hero Clayman! Defense mode!"

The golem-like Elemental Hero took his defensive position on Jaden's side of the field.

DEF 2000

Shou tightened his fist.

"Awright!" said Shou.

"Jaden managed to pull through with that follow-up attack!" said Hayato.

Titan laughed.

"We'll see about that…" said Titan.

Jaden blinked as Titan held up a strange golden, puzzle-like object. A golden light flashed brightly from the item.

"Begin to vanish," said Titan. "Your body will gradually disappear in accordance to your life points."

The light waned and Hayato looked at Jaden, gasping. Shou did too, his eyes widening.

"Jaden!" said Hayato.

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden blinked and looked down at herself. Her eyes widened as she realized part of her body had disappeared.

"My body…" she said.

Titan laughed.

"Kid, didn't I tell you?" he asked. "That this Shadow Game has already begun?"

Jaden clenched her teeth.

"Is this really a Shadow Game?" Jaden asked as she found it hard to breathe with the black fog's presence.

"The enshrouding black fog…" said Titan. "The heavy, black fog is engulfing you all. Hard to breathe now, isn't it?"

Shou and Hayato placed their hands on their throats as they found it difficult to breathe.

"What's this choking us up?" asked Hayato.

"It's the pressure of the Shadow Game," explained Titan. "Your legs will no longer move, so no one will be able to run away from this game."

Shou tried to move his legs, gasping when he found that Titan was right.

"He's right!" exclaimed Shou. "I can't budge my legs!"

Titan laughed.

"Squirm…suffer…" said Titan. "But the moment when you'll find yourselves longing for the suffering is approaching. For what awaits the loser of a Shadow Game is eternal darkness."

Jaden stomped her foot as she glared at Titan, a defiant look in her eyes.

"No!" yelled Jaden. "I don't believe in that! I heard that to play a Shadow Game, you need to have a Millennium Item! Do you have one?"

Titan sneered and held up the item he had in his hand.

"Behold," he said. "This is the legendary item, the Millennium Puzzle."

The Millennium Puzzle began to glow.

"It proves this is a Shadow Game," said Titan.

Jaden's eyes widened.

"What?" she said.

Shou and Hayato stared at the item Titan held up, astonished.

"That's a…Millennium Item!" said Hayato.

"My turn is finished," said Titan. "Come on, kid. It's your turn."

Jaden clenched her teeth as she looked at herself.

"_Shit,"_ thought Jaden. _"This really is a Shadow Game. I'm not too sure, but I have a horribly bad feeling about this. But…!"_

Jaden looked up at Titan and smiled, this action taking him aback.

"_He's smiling…why?"_ thought Titan.

Jaden stared at Titan with a look of determination.

"I've never had a duel as exciting as this one!" Jaden said, tightening her fist. "I'm absolutely on fire! Here I go! My turn!"

Jaden, feeling pumped up now that she'd said that, drew out a card and held it out.

"I activate the spell card, Pot of Greed!" Jaden said, drawing out two cards and looking at them quickly. "I'll use Polymerization to fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman in my hand with Clayman on the field!"

Elemental Hero Sparkman appeared on the field and jumped up into the air with Clayman as Polymerization worked its affect. Thunder and lightning flashed as the new Elemental Hero formed by the fusion appeared in the previous two Heroes' places.

"I summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant in attack mode!" said Jaden.

Charged electricity crackled on Elemental Hero Thunder Giant right where the sphere resided on his chest.

ATK 2400

"Thunder Giant's special ability activates!" said Jaden. "He can destroy a monster with an original ATK that's lower than his own! Go, Thunder Giant! Vapor Spark!"

Thunder Giant crackled with electricity and held out his right hand, an electrical beam shooting out the palm of his hand at Genocide-King Demon. Titan laughed, catching Jaden by surprise as she realized Thunder Giant's attack was stopped in midair.

"What?" said Jaden.

"Once again, Genocide-King Demon's special ability activates," said Titan. "Turn, Roulette of Destiny!"

The Roulette's flame began to move again in the same clockwise motion. Jaden narrowed her eyes.

"Nobody…say…a word," said Jaden.

The flame on the Roulette stopped on 5. Jaden's eyes widened.

"What the—?" exclaimed Jaden.

Titan laughed, earning a scowl from Jaden.

"Once again, the Roulette of Destiny has sided with me," said Titan. "That means that monster getting destroyed, kid…is going to be yours!"

Titan pointed at Thunder Giant. The electrical beam the Elemental Hero sent out was now sent right back at him, destroying Thunder Giant. Jaden shielded herself and looked at her empty field.

"Shit…to think Thunder Giant would get killed off so easily…" said Jaden.

Shou looked concerned at Jaden.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

Hayato stood silent as he watched the duel, his thoughts on Titan's deck.

"_A Demon deck…its true terror is its ability to counter,"_ thought Hayato. _"The power to not only negate the effects that befall them, but destroy cards that activated their special effects…If the roulette lands on the right one, then his deck will be an absolute horror! What are you going to do, Jaden?"_

Jaden glared at Titan as she panted.

"Well, all of your monsters on the field have been wiped out," said Titan.

A vein popped out on Jaden's forehead.

"Tell me something I don't know!" snapped Jaden.

Titan laughed at Jaden's reaction, earning death glare from her.

"Oh, now you're just enjoying this!" said Jaden.

"Maybe I am, kid," said Titan. "But face it, I'm right."

Jaden clenched her teeth. Titan was right…but he didn't have to point it out. It was already getting difficult for her to breathe as she panted heavily. Titan laughed again and held up the Millennium Puzzle.

"Now, all of your monsters on the field have been wiped out," said Titan.

Jaden glared defiantly at Titan for a few seconds before looking at her cards.

"Tch…" Jaden said as she picked out a card from her hand. "It's like I can't do a thing against him… I activate the spell card, Mirage of Nightmares! Next, I set two cards face-down to finish my turn."

"Aniki…" said Shou.

Hayato, with a look of determination, looked at Jaden.

"You can do it, Jaden Yuki," said Hayato.

Titan grinned.

"You haven't dealt any damage to me in the last two turns," said Titan.

Jaden scowled.

"That's because you countered my attacks!" said Jaden.

Titan sneered.

"It appears that the score is about to be settled," said Titan.

Titan placed his hand by his deck in the duel disk attached to his coat. A card ejected from his disk automatically into his hand.

"It's my turn," said Titan.

Jaden's scowl ceased as that was her cue.

"Mirage of Nightmare's effect activates!" said Jaden. "I'll draw until I have four cards in my hand!"

"I don't care," remarked Titan. "Even if your hand grows now, this attack of mine will deplete your life points, anyway! Genocide-King Demon will attack directly!"

Genocide-King Demon's chest began to bulge before opening as it let out a swarm of insects.

"Bursting!" yelled Titan. "Internal Organs!"

Jaden was about to grimaced at the name of the attack, but stopped herself.

"I'm not letting that happen!" said Jaden. "Trap, activate! Mirror Force!"

One of the face-down cards on Jaden's side of the field turned over.

"This wipes out all enemy attack-mode monsters!" Jaden explained, grinning afterwards. "And guess whose monsters are in attack-mode?"

Titan scowled whilst Shou and Hayato smiled ecstatically at Jaden.

"Nice move, Jaden!" said Hayato. "That won't activate Genocide-King Demon's effect!"

A mirror-like barrier appeared in front of Jaden, shielding her from Genocide-King Demon's attack. And the barrier, just like a mirror, reflected the attack back at Genocide-King Demon himself and Inferno-Queen Demon, both of them destroyed. Titan shielded himself from the aftermath of the attack, glaring at Jaden.

"Tch…" said Titan. "You're a stubborn one…"

"I've noticed," Jaden said as she looked at her nails in a relaxed fashion before her chocolate brown eyes darted to Titan's form. "That was a careless attack!"

Shou covered his mouth as he tried to prevent himself from laughing. Hayato looked at him questioningly. Shou noticed and explained to the koala-resembling Osiris Red.

"Coming from the person who gets told that, I find it ironic," said Shou.

Hayato nodded, smirking a bit.

Jaden glared at Titan as he drew a card.

"Even if it was, my victory is still assured," said Titan. "From my hand, I activate Death-Rook Demon's special ability! When Genocide-King Demon is destroyed and sent to the graveyard…"

Titan discarded the card in his hand.

"By discarding this card from my hand…Genocide-King Demon is revived!" said Titan.

Genocide-King Demon appeared back on the field.

ATK 2000

Jaden's eyes widened.

"What?" said Jaden.

Titan grinned.

"Next, the effect of the field magic, Pandemonium, activates!" said Titan. "While this Demons' Den is in play, when a 'Demon' monster is destroyed outside of battle…"

Jaden, her patience wearing thin, snapped.

"Just get to the point, dammit!" snapped Jaden. "I don't have the patience to put up with explanations!"

Silence…

Jaden sighed as she sweat dropped. Titan, not wanting to make the Osiris Red snap again, just decided to just show the effect of the field magic by adding a 'Demon' monster with a Level lower than Genocide-King Demon's to his hand.

"I'm still in the middle of my Battle Phase," said Titan. "And that means my resurrected Genocide-Demon King is allowed to attack! Go, Genocide-King Demon!"

Jaden's breath hitched as Genocide-King Demon attack. Hayato and Shou gasped.

"Not good!" said Hayato. "Is this the end?"

Jaden growled.

"Shut it, Koala-man!" Jaden said, Hayato clamping up as she activated her face-down. "I activate the spell card, Emergency Provisions! By destroying one magic (screw it! I'm going with magic instead of spell) or trap on my field, I'll recover 1000 life points!"

Mirage of Nightmares was destroyed, earning Jaden 1000 life points.

Jaden:

LP

3000

During that same time, Jaden shielded herself from Genocide-King Demon's attack, which involved its swarm of insects. Jaden's life points took a toll, leaving her with only 1000. The gender-mistaken girl unshielded herself and glared at Titan, her breathing beginning to grow heavy.

"What's that?" said Titan.

Jaden grinned, wincing as she resisted the urge to collapse from the stress dealt to her. She looked at Titan triumphantly, having survived the attack.

"Managed to hang in there…" said Jaden.

Shou and Hayato mushroom sighed in relief, glad that their roommate had made it through.

"I thought she was a goner!" said Shou.

Hayato stared at Jaden.

"Jaden Yuki…you're something else!" he said.

Jaden stared at Titan, panting heavily as her thoughts focused on her crisis.

"_Shit…I'm slipping more and more into a disadvantage…"_ thought Jaden. _"This guy isn't just talk…he's outrageously strong!"_

Titan laughed and took out the Millennium Puzzle from his pocket.

"Well, kid, since your life points have decreased, your body will fade away even further," said Titan.

The Millennium Puzzle glowed and Jaden's right arm disappeared, leaving only her hand. Jaden looked at her arm and gasped. Shou's eyes widened.

"Ah!" said Shou. "Aniki's right arm…!"

Hayato blinked.

"Huh?" said Hayato. "Isn't it her left leg?"

Shou and Hayato blinked, turning their heads to look at each other. Jaden, having overheard them, clenched her teeth.

"_Shit…it doesn't matter which one it is!"_ Jaden thought as she drew a card. "My turn!"

Jaden looked at the cards in her hand and switched one of them out with the one in her hand. Looking at Titan, she held out the card in her hand.

"I activate the spell card, Warrior's Return!" said Jaden.

A card popped out from Jaden's duel disk. Taking the card, she looked at her hand and picked out two.

"I activate the spell card, Polymerization to fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix to form…" said Jaden.

Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix appeared on Jaden's field, Polymerization fusing the monsters together.

"Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman appeared on the field in attack mode.

ATK 2100

"If effects are no good, I'll take you on in a direct battle!" said Jaden. "Go, Flame Wingman! Flame Shoot!"

Flame Wingman aimed his right arm at Titan's monster and shot out a fiery blast. This blast destroyed Genocide-King Demon, creating an explosion. Jaden tightened her fist.

"And now, Flame Wingman's effect activates!" said Jaden. "Go ahead and chew on some damage equal to the ATK of the monster destroyed by battle!"

Electricity shocked Titan in result to losing life points equal to Genocide-King Demon's ATK.

Titan:

LP

1900

Titan's left arm and right leg disappeared in correspondence to his life points. Shou stared at Titan and adjusted his glasses.

"His left arm disappeared, right?" asked Shou.

"It's his left, isn't it?" said Hayato.

Shou turned to Hayato.

"So, we've been seeing different things?" asked Shou.

Hayato looked at Shou.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Titan stared at Jaden.

"Still, if this is your best, my Demons will never die," said Titan. "I'll discard another Death-Rook Demon from my hand… Be reborn a second time, Genocide-King Demon!"

And once again, said monster reappeared on the field with an ATK of 2000. Jaden was not amused and hell if she knew, that Genocide-King Demon returning for the third time wasn't annoying enough…her arm and leg were also missing!

"No matter _how_ much I kill and kill the thing…" Jaden said, playing a card. "I summon Dark Catapulter in defense mode!"

Dark Catapulter appeared on the field, taking its defensive stance.

DEF 1500

"That finishes my turn!" said Jaden.

"It's my turn," said Titan. "You're going to witness a fresh new hell this turn. I sacrifice my Genocide-King Demon…Come forth, Demonic King of the Swift Lightning-Skull Demon!"

A/N Thou shalt be dubbed Skull Demon by thy fellow authoress.

Skull Demon appeared from above with electricity crackling all over its body.

ATK 2500

"Tear that eyesore of a monster apart, limb by limb!" said Titan. "Dohatsu! Ten-shogeki!"

A/N Furious! Imperial Shock!

Skull Demon sent a beam of lightning at Flame Wingman, destroying the Elemental Hero. Jaden shielded herself from the aftershock that dealt a blow on her life points.

Jaden:

LP

600

Shou and Hayato gasped.

"Aniki!" yelled Shou.

"Jaden!" yelled Hayato.

Jaden clenched her teeth as she winced from the attack.

"_That last one worked on me…"_ thought Jaden.

Titan held up the Millennium Puzzle. Jaden stared at it as it glowed.

"How's it feel?" asked Titan. "You've already spent up all of your body's energy, and you can't even stand up straight."

Jaden's vision began to blur as she felt the effects wear her down. She fell down onto one of her knees with the other propped up. She placed her hand on her knee, breathing heavily as she stared up at Titan. Her vision began to blur again as her eyes wavered.

Hayato noticed something was wrong with Jaden. Worried, he called out to her.

"Jaden…_Jaden_…" Hayato called out.

Hayato's voice sounded faintly to Jaden as she was close to collapsing. It was only a matter of moments until the stress from the Shadow Game overwhelmed Jaden.

"Not good…I'm going down…" Jaden said, completely losing it as Hayato yelled at her.

"Jaden!" yelled Hayato.

Titan stared at Jaden and smirked. Hayato stared at his roommate, hearing a few, weak sounds from her. Growing concerned like Shou, he yelled at her again.

"Jaden, pull yourself together!" yelled Hayato.

"Aniki!" yelled Shou.

No response from their female roommate. Titan laughed.

"_So, fallen into the darkness, have you, Jaden Yuki?"_ thought Titan. _"You're going to cease your bodily functions all on your own and be reduced to a corpse!"_

As everyone stared at Jaden, no one noticed that her deck was glowing.

* * *

Jaden stayed crouched down, motionless and silent within darkness. Suddenly, a 'kuri kuri' broke the silence as a light fluttered out of her deck and in front of her. She opened her eyes, gasping at the light as it flew around, lighting up the darkness. She stared at the light as it flew over towards Titan. She blinked and looked at herself, finding it easier to breathe.

* * *

Jaden lifted her head up and opened her eyes slightly.

"_What's this?" _she thought._ "It's like the trouble I had breathing just went away…"_

Eyes opening wider and more alert, Jaden looked at Titan.

"_He and I have gone back to normal,"_ thought Jaden.

Jaden stood up and looked at Hayato.

"Hayato, that guy's left arm is gone, right?" she asked.

"No, I think it's the opposite," said Hayato.

Shou looked perplexed.

"Eh?" he said.

"I see!" Jaden said, looking at Titan as she grinned. "So, that's it, huh?"

Hayato and Shou looked at each other, both confused. Jaden reached for her deck and drew a card.

"My turn!" said Jaden.

Titan was taken aback with Jaden's sudden recovery.

"_Impossible,"_ thought Titan. _"He's still willing to duel?"_

A light flashed on Dark Catapulter's eye (that's what I call it, so deal with it!).

"I activate Dark Catapulter's special ability!" said Jaden. "By removing cards from the Graveyard for each turn this card's been in defense mode…it can destroy the same number of trap and magic cards on the field!"

Jaden's duel disk glowed.

"I'll remove Elemental Hero Avian from my Graveyard…and destroy the Field Magic, Pandemonium!" said Jaden.

Dark Catapulter got out of its defensive stance and aimed the charging sphere of energy at Titan.

"Volley Shoot!" yelled Jaden.

Dark Catapulter shot at Titan, destroying Pandemonium-Demons' Den. With the Field Magic gone, the area Titan and Jaden were in returned back to its original form. Titan scowled and took out the Millennium Puzzle.

"Shit…" cursed Titan. "Take a look at this!"

The Millennium Puzzle began to glow. Jaden grinned.

"I'm making you check the card I removed!" Jaden said as she held her card in between her middle and index finger. "Card throw of doom!" (1)

Hayato and Shou sweat dropped at Jaden's sudden random outburst as she deftly threw it at Titan's Millennium Puzzle. The card hit the center of the puzzle, or the 'eye' and went right through it. Titan cursed.

"Oh, no!" said Titan.

Jaden glared at Titan as her arm and leg returned. She earned relieved looks from Hayato and Shou.

"Aniki's body is back to normal!" said Shou.

Hayato smirked.

"Though, still lacking assets," said Hayato.

Jaden growled, but stopped herself.

"_Not now…later,"_ she thought. "It's just like I thought. This guy's Shadow Game is bogus!"

Shou and Hayato looked at Titan as Jaden explained.

"He's probably a magician or something, and we were all trapped under his hypnosis," explained Jaden. "Our bodies looking like they were vanishing weren't real either. That's why we were all seeing mix-matched."

Jaden grinned and pointed at Titan.

"There's probably a trick in that coat or that roulette of his!" she said.

Titan scowled.

"What utter nonsense!" said Titan. "I really play Shadow Games!"

"Then, you'll know this one for sure!" said Jaden. "The Millennium Item you have… How many of them are there?"

Titan looked at the Millennium Puzzle in his hand.

"You mean, the number of Millennium Items?" asked Titan.

Jaden blinked and sighed.

"Nah, your cards," Jaden said sarcastically. "Of course the number of Millennium Items! Answer me!"

"It's…s-seven," Titan answered, stuttering a bit.

Jaden's grin ceased, Titan's answer was correct. Titan smirked.

"Seven," said Titan.

Hayato looked at Titan.

"He's right," said Hayato.

Titan laughed.

"Well?" said Titan. "Do you get it now? I am a genuine player of the Shadow Games."

Titan held up the Millennium Puzzle.

"I am one of the holders of the seven Millennium Puzzles existing in the world!" said Titan.

Hayato and Shou gasped, looking at each other. Jaden smirked and made a buzzer-like sound.

"That's too bad," said Jaden.

Titan looked perplexed as Jaden grinned.

"You're right in there being seven Millennium Items, but that doesn't mean there's seven Millennium Puzzles!" Jaden said, remembering what she learned at the museum and of course, the drawings she saw on the abandoned dorm's walls. _"Once again…the only time I find things I learned at a museum useful is when I'm doing things Dad won't approve of…heh."_

Jaden looked at Titan's shocked face and tightened her fist.

"You've dug your own grave!" said Jaden. "You've confessed that you're a cheating scumbag! Someone should've done their research on Millennium Items before going around playing faux Shadow Games!"

Titan scowled.

"Since my trick won't work, it'd be pointless to keep dueling you!" Titan said, throwing the Millennium Puzzle on the ground.

The Millennium Puzzle came in contact with the ground, creating a small explosion as it was destroyed. With smoke coming out of the fake puzzle, Titan decided this was the best time to get away and started walking.

"I knew that Millennium Puzzle was fake!" Jaden said, running towards Titan. "Hold it!"

As Jaden ran towards Titan, she failed to notice the statues surrounding the area light up until their lights were focused together on the same spot in the center of the field. Jaden slid to a stop, wondering what the hell that was.

"W-What's this?" yelled Jaden.

Titan stopped in his tracks and looked back, gasping as he saw a huge eye-shaped insignia light up underneath Jaden. Jaden stared at the light she was standing on, her eyes widening when black smoke began to swirl into the center of the field.

"W-What's this?" said Shou.

The ground began to quake, startling Titan and Jaden as the black smoke enveloped them both. The smoke dragged them into the center as it began to turn into a huge sphere of black darkness with crackling electricity. Shou's eyes widened.

"Aniki!" yelled Shou.

* * *

Within the darkness,

Jaden's breath hitched as she looked at her surroundings. Titan was shocked.

"W-What's this?" exclaimed Titan.

Jaden turned her head at Titan.

"Y'know, I actually like to know that myself!" said Jaden. "But I ain't getting answers! Why won't you give up?"

Titan looked at Jaden, shocked.

"No!" said Titan. "I haven't done anything!"

Jaden blinked, having heard something. She turned and gasped.

"What the hell is that?" exclaimed Jaden.

Jaden was referring to the ink-like blobs that were falling from above piling onto each other. The blobs went after Titan and started to surround him, freaking the 'supposed' Shadow Duelist out.

"S-S-S-Stay back!" yelled Titan. "Help me!"

Jaden watched as blobs went into Titan's mouth.

"Hey!" said Jaden.

Jaden blinked and looked down, her eyes widening as she noticed the blobs were surrounding her. As they neared her, a 'kuri kuri' caught her attention. Looking at her deck, a brown furball squeezed his way out of Jaden's duel disk until he was out and standing on the cards in her hand. Jaden blinked as the furball stared at her with his big eyes, stretching out his wings a bit.

"Kuri kuri!" he said.

Jaden stared at the furball and resisted the urge to squeal. It was not like her to squeal and like hell would she start doing that at a moment so serious like this.

"Winged Kuriboh?" said Jaden.

Jaden blinked and remembered the light that helped her out earlier. She put two and two together and came to a conclusion what the light was.

"I get it!" said Jaden. "So, you're the one who saved me earlier?"

Wing Kuriboh bounced once as he said, "Kuri kuri!"

Jaden took that as a yes and Winged Kuriboh jumped off her deck, flying down by the blobs. Winged Kuriboh let out an aggressive 'kuri kuri' and the blobs immediately fled. Jaden blinked.

"These things are afraid of Winged Kuriboh?" asked Jaden.

The blobs in Titan's mouth quickly made their way in as the rest of the blobs were sucked in with them. Jaden heard Titan's distressed voice and turned, blinking as she saw Titan standing up.

"H-Hey!" said Jaden. "Are you okay?"

Titan turned his head to Jaden, shocking her with the sight of his red, glowing eyes.

"Well, Jaden Yuki…why don't we carry on with the duel?" asked Titan. "With a real Shadow Game…"

Jaden, still being stubborn and a nonbeliever, tightened her fist. Winged Kuriboh, trying to ignore the fact that his partner was too stubborn for her own good and a nonbeliever when he was trying to protect her, glared at Titan.

"You're still talking about that Shadow Game stuff?" snapped Jaden. "For starters, weren't you just trying to run _away_?"

"As soon as a Shadow Game is activated, there's no escaping from here until the duel has an outcome," said Titan.

Titan's monsters returned to his side of the field.

"If that's your motivation, I'll follow along!" said Jaden. "It's still my turn…I activate Monster Reincarnation! I'll discard a card in my hand to add a monster card in the Graveyard to my hand!"

After Jaden did was she was explaining, she summoned Sparkman in defense mode and ended her turn.

DEF 1400

A/N Okay, I was just gonna speed this duel up since I'm sure a lot of you are bored! However, for those of you who want this duel to continue…damn you, now I have to type it cuz I don't want complaints!

"It's my turn," said Titan. "Draw."

Jaden, having been dreading the effect of a certain field spell, decided to point this out now that it was gone.

"Pandemonium's effect is gone!" said Jaden. "That means the 500-point cost to keep Skull Demon out occurs!"

Titan:

LP

1400

Titan seemed to growl angrily at Jaden, but she ignored it.

"Skull Demon, attack Dark Catapulter!" said Titan. "Furious! Imperial Shock!"

Skull Demon shot its electrical beam at Dark Catapulter, destroying it. Jaden shielded herself as the aftermath of the attack created a somewhat forceful current of air. This surprised the gender-mistaken girl.

"He's completely different than he was just a little while ago!" said Jaden.

As much as Winged Kuriboh wanted to point out why Titan was different, he just stayed silent.

"Kuri kuri…(2)" he muttered.

Titan placed one face-down and summoned Death-Rook Demon in attack mode, finishing his turn.

ATK 1100

Winged Kuriboh, despite resenting his partner for her stubbornness, he was still loyal to her and turned to her.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden blinked, completely understanding what her partner just said.

"'You've gotta win'?" repeated Jaden. "Of course: that's the plan! My turn! I switch Sparkman to attack mode!"

Sparkman switched his defensive position to offense.

ATK 1600

"Then, I'll equip him with Spark Gun!" Jaden said, playing the Equip Spell card.

A/N Ha! Take that _4kids_ and your Spark Blaster—damn, it sounds cooler than gun, but it doesn't have the word gun and it's _pink_! Ugh…hate your censorship and edits as well as BLOCKING _deaths_…look what you did to Dark Magician Girl (and the rest of the cards) and the moment between Priest Seto and Kisara…and a lot of other good moments!

A gun appeared in Sparkman's right hand as Jaden explained the use of the card.

"This card changes the battle mode…you know what?" said Jaden. "Screw the explanation! I'll just show you!"

"If you change Skull Demon's battle mode, its DEF is 1200," Titan said as the roulette appeared from the ground. "You could indeed destroy it, but I wonder if your effect will just slip by in the end."

Jaden crossed her arms.

"Who said I was going to attack Skull Demon?" asked Jaden. "My target's Death-Rook Demon! Go, Sparkman! Spark Flash!"

Sparkman aimed his left hand at Death-Rook Demon and shot an electrical beam at it, destroying it.

Titan:

LP

900

"Then, Spark Gun's special ability activates!" said Jaden. "I'll switch Sparkman to defense mode!"

Sparkman aimed his gun down and pulled the trigger, switching from his offensive stance to his defensive one.

DEF 1400

"I see now…you're using it to protect yourself, huh?" said Titan. "During your end face, I activate the trap card, Blood Marks! And now, it's my turn. At this moment, due to the effect of the permanent trap, Blood Marks…"

Jaden mentally cursed at the word 'permanent'.

"_Why did it have to be a trap?"_ thought Jaden.

"The 500-point cost to keep Skull Demon out is pulled from both of our life points!" said Titan.

Titan:

LP

400

Jaden:

LP

100

Jaden clenched her teeth.

"My life's down to just 100…" said Jaden.

Unbeknownst to Jaden, the blobs were nearing the brunette again. Thankfully, Winged Kuriboh spotted this and shooed them away.

"Kuri kuri!" yelled Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden blinked and looked down at her partner, smiling at him.

"Don't worry, Winged Kuriboh!" reassured Jaden. "It doesn't mean I've given up yet!"

"Skull Demon, attack Sparkman!" said Titan. "Furious! Imperial Shock!"

Skull Demon shot out an electrical beam from its mouth aimed at Sparkman. Sparkman was destroyed from the attack as Titan placed a face-down and activated the magic card, Double Magic.

"By discarding a magic card from my hand, I can use one magic card in my opponent's Graveyard," explained Titan. "And the card I'm using from your Graveyard is Emergency Provisions."

One destroyed face-down plus 1000 life points gained later…

Titan:

LP

1400

Titan looked at Jaden and noticed her empty hand.

"You have no cards in your hand," said Titan. "Next turn, unless you defeat Skull Demon, Blood Marks' effect will reduce your life to 0. Your soul will be an offering to these demonic creatures."

By demonic creatures, Titan was referring to the ink-like blobs that were about ready to surround Jaden. Winged Kuriboh lowered himself to ward off the blobs away from Jaden.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden was nervous and she had a good reason to be.

"Yeah, I know that this match is all riding on this very draw!" Jaden said as she reached for her deck. "My turn! Draw!"

Jaden drew a card and looked at it, relieved after seeing who it was.

"I special-summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman!" said Jaden.

A blue-clad man with a white cape appeared on Jaden's side of the field.

ATK 800

Jaden had her hand on her deck as she explained her reason for special summoning it.

"When this card is the only one in my hand, I can special summon it to the field!" said Jaden. "Then, when it's summoned successfully while there aren't any cards on my field, I can draw two cards from my deck!"

Jaden drew two cards and looked at them, smiling as they were of good use to her (and life-savers as well had she believed in Shadow Games).

"Then, I activate the Magic card, Bubble Shuffle!" said Jaden. "It switches Bubbleman and one of my opponent's monsters to defense mode…and, by offering Bubbleman as a sacrifice, I can summon an 'Elemental Hero' in my hand!"

"But Skull Demon's special ability, it counter-effect, activates," said Titan. "If the Roulette lands on 1, 3, or 6 (3), it will negate the effect and destroy it!"

The Destiny Roulette began to move its flame in a clockwise motion. Jaden stared at it anxiously.

"The odds are 1-in-2…" said Jaden. _"Luck, don't fail me now!"_

The flame on the Roulette came to a halt…on 2. Titan gritted his teeth.

"_What?"_ thought Titan.

Bubbleman took his defensive position.

DEF 1200

"Looks like your luck's run out!" said Jaden.

Skull Demon was switched from his attack to defense mode.

DEF 1200

Jaden played the card in her hand.

"Come forth, Elemental Hero Edgeman!" said Jaden.

Bubbleman was replaced with a golden-armored clad Elemental Hero.

ATK 2600

"When Edgeman attacks a defending monster, he can inflict damage to the opposing player…equal to the amount it exceeded over his DEF!" said Jaden. "Go, Edgeman! Power-Edge Attack!"

Edgeman held out his arms, both which had blades extending out of them. He then charged at Skull Demon, destroying it. Titan shielded himself from the explosion the destruction of Skull Demon caused.

Titan:

LP

0

White smoke emanated from Titan as the blobs began to pile on him.

"W-What are you doing?" yelled Titan. "Impossible! Are you telling me Shadow Games really exist?"

Jaden, still believing it to be fake, stared in awe.

"Wow, awesome!" Jaden said, turning to Winged Kuriboh. "What in the world is happening?"

Winged Kuriboh turned around, giving a 'kuri kuri' as Jaden continued to stare at the blobs.

"Awesome…" said Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh turned away from an opening behind him that shone brightly.

"Kuri kuri," said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden blinked and turned her head as Winged Kuriboh flew over to her side.

"'Go that way'?" asked Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh motioned at the shining opening. Jaden nodded and started running towards it.

"Got it!" said Jaden. "So, that's our exit!"

* * *

Few moments later,

Winged Kuriboh crawled out of the opening in the sphere of darkness. He looked at the opening as Jaden tumbled out of it and onto the ground, landing hard on her tailbone. She rubbed her backside as she heard a familiar voice call out to her and turned, seeing Shou and Hayato run towards her.

"Aniki!" Shou yelled.

"Jaden!" yelled Hayato.

Jaden smiled at them.

"Are you guys all right?" she asked.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Hayato blinked as he heard a sound, but didn't know where it came from.

"That voice just now…" Hayato said as the sphere of darkness began to shrink.

Hayato turned around, feeling ominous, and gasped as he saw the sphere of darkness. It began to crackle violently with energy as it shrunk. Hayato grabbed Shou and threw himself (along with Shou) onto the ground.

"Hit the ground!" said Hayato.

Shou yelped as he came in contact with the ground. Hayato shielded Shou as Jaden hit the ground. Jaden glanced at the shrinking sphere before lowering her head onto the ground as she shielded herself with her arms. Hayato shielded himself with his free arm as he, Jaden, and Shou yelled as the shrinking sphere created a forceful current of air.

Asuka, still unconscious, was still inside the coffin, which was now open. The forceful airstream caused the coffin to tilt and fall down.

THUD!

Jaden looked up carefully and spotted the coffin with Asuka. The airstream pulled the coffin closer to Jaden, Hayato, and Shou.

"Asuka!" exclaimed Jaden.

Jaden knelt up, closing her eyes as the airstream became strong. The sphere soon disappeared as did the airstream. A loud 'POP' followed by a small shower of yellow confetti caught Jaden's attention. She stood up and turned around, clapping as she stared in awe at the sight.

"Ooh!" said Jaden. "I don't even know how he did _this_ trick!"

Hayato stared at where the sphere once was, perplexed.

"_I thought I heard a Duel Monster's voice just a second ago…"_ thought Hayato.

Shou looked around, noticing Titan's absence.

"Aniki, where did that guy go?" asked Shou.

Jaden turned and smiled at Shou.

"When he lost the duel, he high-tailed it out of here," Jaden answered, closing her eye and placing her hand on her head as she thought about the recent events. "Speaking of which, even though his last roulette was off, I really couldn't figure out that other trick, either…"

Jaden scratched her head thoughtfully and sighed.

* * *

~later in the dorm~

Professor Chronos walked down a hall, lighting up his path with a flashlight.

"Jaden Yuki should be smashed to bits by now," Professor Chronos said to himself, laughing.

The blonde-haired professor entered a room and looked around, finding it empty.

"There is no one here," he said. "I bet that scoundrel failed me-_no_ _ne_!"

Shining his flashlight around, Professor Chronos stopped on one spot, finding a card on the floor. He knelt down and picked it up, reading what it said after using his flashlight.

"'Bill of Receipt for Sir Chronos de Medici'," Professor Chronos read, turning around and beginning to walk out. "I haven't paid, but I should take this with me. _All'arrabbiata_…"

* * *

~meanwhile in the forest~

Asuka, leaning against a tree stump, opened her eyes slowly, regaining consciousness as she heard birds twittering about. She lifted her head and came face-to-face with Jaden. Jaden smiled at Asuka.

"Oh, so you've come to?" said Jaden.

Asuka, now alert, looked around, spotting Hayato and Shou.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

Jaden, feeling slightly guilty for what had happened, frowned as she apologized.

"We're sorry that you were given such a hard time, but don't worry about it!" said Jaden. "Oh yeah…sorry about snapping at you earlier…"

Asuka blinked and smiled.

"It's okay," said Asuka.

Jaden sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Asuka, the guy who assaulted you already ran away," said Jaden.

Asuka gasped.

"Then, you guys…" said Asuka.

Jaden reached into her pocket, taking out a card as Hayato handed her a frame. Jaden held out the card to Asuka, the Obelisk Blue taking it.

"Here…and here…" Jaden said, holding out a somewhat small rectangular frame.

Asuka took the picture and turned it around, her eyes widening and sparkling a bit in joy. She held the frame with both hands as she stared at the photo.

"Nii-san!" exclaimed Asuka. "It's unmistakable! This is Nii-san's signature!"

Asuka, sensing the perplexed stares from her friends, decided to explain.

"My brother always wrote the 'Ten' in 'Tenjoin' like this as a play on words," she said.

Jaden smiled.

"Sorry, but these were the only clues we could find," Jaden said as she started to rub the back of her head. "After hearing about your brother, I thought, 'I wonder if I could help her out a little bit.'"

Asuka held the photo closely as she stared at Jaden.

"Then, that's why you purposely…?" said Asuka.

The sun began to rise as a rooster began to crow. Jaden stood up quickly, anxious that it was already morning.

"Crap!" said Jaden. "Hey, let's get back before everyone wakes up!"

Hayato and Shou stood up. Both male Osiris Reds looked at Asuka as their roommate turned to do likewise.

"Asuka-san," said Shou.

"Well, then," said Hayato.

Asuka started to get up from the ground as Jaden yawned from lack of sleep. Rubbing her eyes, Jaden looked at Asuka and waved at her.

"See you around," said Jaden.

Asuka watched the Osiris Red trio run off as they rushed towards their dorm.

"_Jaden Yuki…"_ Asuka thought, looking at the photo of her brother as she grinned. _"You busybody…"_

* * *

A/N End of chapter and yeah, like I said! Yesterday or today, and I've kept my word! Well, I'm going to say this now before I forget. I'm going to start skipping duels unless they're either important or of my preferences. Anyways, remember I accept no flames, constructive criticism is always welcomed and I don't expect a lot of reviews, so yeah…

(1) THAT quote is actually a joke owned by Wraith10 on YouTube, who, in my opinion, makes the BEST _Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's Abridged Series_….yeah, I don't own it. I just couldn't resist it…I would say why, but I'm just going to say just watch Yu-Gi-Oh GX Abridged by, may he rest in peace, Raymscreator and you'll see why in the Shadow Duelist episode.

(2) Translation: "Why did I have to get the stubborn one?"

(3) I actually almost made a mistake, had I not been on the Yu-Gi-Oh wiki and looking up cards used in this episode. I mean, it wasn't me, but it was the subs on the episode I was watching so yeah…

That's about it!


	5. Turn 05

Chapter Five

I Heavily Question How We Were Caught with Lack of Evidence

Day One of Tag Duel Preparations

A few days later on no class day before dawn…

Fog made it difficult to distinguish one's surroundings. The lighthouse was one, shining its light as Asuka walked towards it. She stopped, spotting someone by the lighthouse and gasped once she realized who it was.

It was an Obelisk Blue student, about 17 years old and on the tall side with dark, blue-green hair and teal-colored eyes. He had his arms crossed as he stared out, hearing a foghorn (I'm not sure if that was it, but I just wanted to use the word foghorn!).

"Ryou…" said Asuka.

Asuka walked closer to Ryou and joined him in on staring out into the open. A few moments had passed before Ryou spoke.

"Dawn still seems so far away, huh?" said Ryou.

"Yes, but I believe there's no night without dawn," said Asuka.

* * *

~later in the Osiris Red Dorms~

Daitokuji, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and white sweatpants, woke up to the sounds of footsteps and got out of bed, wanting to know who it was. Pharaoh followed Daitokuji as he opened the door. The tabby walked out of the room as the professor rubbed his eye and yawned.

"Who is that-nya?" he asked. _"It's too damn early for students to be up…and it's a no class day!"_

The steps were louder and more forceful-sounding as Daitokuji rubbed his eyes whilst Pharaoh meowed.

"For crying out loud, don't break the corridor, or the floor will cave in…nya?" Daitokuji said, looking up as he saw who made the steps.

It was a group of people with green jackets resembling the school's uniform-jacket design. Daitokuji was now bright and alert after seeing the group of people. He stepped out of his room after stepping into his blue slippers to see where the group was heading to. He was nervous for some reason.

"T-T-The Academy Ethics Board, fearful enough to quell a crying child?" said Daitokuji. "Why are the people that'll undoubtedly expel you if they're rubbed the wrong way here at our dorm?"

* * *

Meanwhile within one of the rooms,

Jaden slept peacefully in her bed on her back with her head facing her right, having just turned a few moments ago. Shou turned to his left side, his head facing the same direction as he snored softly. He still had on his glasses, having been too tired last night to remember to take them off. Hayato slept on his back, his face facing the ceiling as he snored.

It was somewhat hard to believe how both Jaden and Shou were able to sleep with Hayato's loud snoring…then again both Osiris Reds were deep sleepers (especially Jaden) and had been living with the koala-resembling boy for at least a month, so they probably had adapted. However, their plan to sleep in today due to no classes, was soon to be ruined as someone knocked on their door.

"Open up!" said someone. "Open it up!"

Hayato was the one who woke up first when he heard the person knocking on their door speak to them somewhat more aggressively. Not wanting to get out, he turned in bed and hoped whoever was knocking on their door would go away.

"It's too damn early on a no class day…" Hayato muttered as he tried to go back to sleep.

Jaden, surprisingly, woke up and sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. Her hair was tousled up from turning in bed. As of result, some of it was either in her face, sticking up in various places, or covering her eyes. Either way, had anyone seen her how she was at this moment, the first thought to pop up in their mind would be that she looked adorable (or at least that's what Hayato, Shou, Daitokuji, and Asuka agreed on).

"What the hell…?" Jaden said sluggishly. "Quit making all that noise…"

Jaden slid her legs over to the side of her bed as she turned to stand up. She yawned, rubbing her eyes as tears welded up in them. The knocking on the door turned more aggressive as the person started to threaten them.

"If you don't open up immediately, we'll blow this door up!" threatened the person.

Jaden, having been sluggish, repeated the person's threat.

"Blow…" she said. "Blow up—"

Jaden's eyes widened as she stood up immediately, now wide-awake and alert.

"W-Wait a second!" exclaimed Jaden.

Jaden ran over to the door and opened it, coming face to face with a woman taller than her wearing a green uniform, a cape, and a beret of the same color of her uniform. Standing next to the woman, were two men, both wearing green uniforms, only unlike the lady, who wore a green skirt, they wore black pants.

"Jaden Yuki…and Shou Marufuji, as well," said the lady.

Shou, having heard the door open as well as noticed the sudden brightness that lit up the darkened room a bit, buried his face into his pillow.

"Close the damn door, you're letting the cool air out," Shou said, his voice muffled through his pillow. (1)

The lady looked at Shou sternly in bed. Jaden looked nervously and motioned at the lady.

"Hold on one sec…" said Jaden.

The lady nodded and watched as Jaden dashed over to the bunk beds and climb up the ladder. She crawled into Shou's middle bunk and began to shake the blue-haired boy's shoulder.

"Shou, wake up!" said Jaden. "We're in deep for some unknown reason!"

Shou pulled the covers over himself.

"Leave me alone…" murmured Shou.

Jaden sweat dropped and she sighed.

"Guess I'll have to do it the hard way…" she said reluctantly. "Sorry, Shou, but I have to do it!"

Jaden grabbed a hold on Shou's blanket and began to pull roughly until Shou lost his grip on his covers. Somewhat angry, Shou sat up immediately, coming almost face-to-face with Jaden. He wasn't flustered or angry seeing as he was somewhat used to this wake-up call from Jaden…and also didn't want to be pulled off his bed and fall onto the ground, which would've been courtesy his Aniki.

Jaden wasn't the type to wake up people by pushing them off their beds…unless she gave out warnings. The first was shaking and calling the person's name, the second was pulling off the covers, and the third was pushing/pulling the person off their beds and she didn't give a damn on which bunk bed they slept on, _she'd_ do it. Jaden, having woken up her roommate, climbed out of Shou's bunk bed and walked back over to the green-clad lady.

"Sorry about that…" Jaden said sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head.

Shou adjusted his glasses as he yawned. He looked around, his eyes widening as he noticed the lady by the door. The lady looked around before looking at Jaden.

"You're the ringleader, Jaden Yuki, aren't you?" she asked, earning a perplexed stare from Jaden.

Jaden rubbed her eye again as she yawned once more. She, Shou, Hayato, and Daitokuji were at it about almost all night long telling scary stories, dueling, and making snacks. The rest of the Osiris Red dorm decided to do what exactly the said quartet did, but unlike the quartet, who did it until 2, almost 3 AM, they passed out (not literally, but you get the point) at midnight. So it was expected of her to be tired and of course, sluggish as well.

"Huh?" she said. "Ringleader…?"

Shou walked up to Jaden having climbed out of bed. Jaden stared as the lady looked down at her.

"We're taking you to the Inquiry Board," said the lady.

Jaden and Shou looked at each other perplexed before looking back at the lady. Jaden sighed and turned around.

"Hayato, wake up!" said Jaden. "I'm going to change and I need you to get out!"

"Then why don't you use Daitokuji-sensei's room?" Hayato asked as he buried his head into his pillow.

"Because I'll push you out of bed and I don't care if you're on the top bunk," Jaden said seriously.

…

"Give me a minute," said Hayato.

In a chibi-like manner, Shou walked up sluggishly with a new sign, his referee uniform messy from his lack of attention to place the uniform on correctly. He blew the whistle weakly and held up the sign with the score messily written before dozing off.

Round 3:

Jaden: WIN (Chibi-Jaden sluggishly held up a V-sign as she yawned)

Hayato: OWNED AGAIN (Chibi-Hayato fell out of bed and onto the ground in defeat)

Shou sighed as Jaden pushed him out of the room. Hayato followed him out as Jaden shut the door behind them. The lady looked at them questioningly.

"Aniki's a girl," said Shou.

The lady nodded, understanding why Jaden was a little aggressive with having privacy.

* * *

~later within the Inquiry Board~

Jaden and Shou exclaimed loudly in shock at what they were told from three large screens with Professor Chronos, Samejima, and the lady they met earlier on each other the screens.

"Expelled?" they both said.

**"A few days ago, Jaden Yuki and two accomplices broke into the special dormitory…which is closed-off and was made off-limits, and wreaked havoc inside," **said the lady. **"The investigation has commenced!"**

A/N It's supposed to be earlier that day, but this is my story, I'm making it a few days ago so deal with it! Besides, both Jaden and Shou would've had alibis having spent the whole night until 3 AM with Daitokuji and Hayato and part of the chapter's title would've been useless.

Jaden clasped her hands together.

"We'll do anything you say, just give us a chance!" said Jaden. _"I heavily question how we were caught with lack of evidence."_

"_I heavily question how we were caught with lack of evidence,"_ thought Shou.

Professor Chronos responded first.

**"Well then, I propose another way to penalize you two,"** said Professor Chronos. **"And that would be a Punishment Tag Duel."**

Jaden blinked.

"Punishment Tag Duel?" repeated Jaden.

**"Precisely," **Professor Chronos said with a grin. **"Jaden Yuki and Shou Marufuji, you two will form a tag team to duel-_no_ _ne_. Should you win, you will then be cleared of all charges-_na no ne_."**

Jaden blinked and her naïvety kicked in, ignoring the consequences.

"A tag duel?" she said, smiling afterwards. "Sounds like fun."

Shou, being the best little brother (AKA, otouto) his Aniki could have, tried to remind her that this was actually bad.

"This is _bad_, Aniki!" said Shou.

Professor Chronos ignored Shou's distressed expression.

**"Principal, it seems that even he himself is satisfied with the idea…" **said Professor Chronos.

Jaden didn't bother correcting Professor Chronos's misuse of pronouns on her. Samejima stared at the two Osiris Reds.

**"Well then…it seems we have no other choice," **said Samejima. **"Jaden…until the outcome of the duel decides if you stay or not…I'll have to postpone construction on your room."**

Jaden shrugged, not minding one bit. She actually liked rooming with her current roommates. They were like the brothers she never had…Especially Hayato.

Professor Chronos diverted his eyes onto both Osiris Reds.

**"Should you lose, you will be expelled immediately!" **he said. **"The opponent you will face in your Punishment Tag Duel will be made public by me at a later time-_no_ _ne_."**

Jaden sighed and grabbed onto Shou's jacket sleeve.

"May we leave?" she asked.

All three of the people on screen nodded and the moment they did that, Jaden began to drag Shou out.

"Thank you," said Jaden.

Shou frowned as Jaden continued to drag him.

"Aniki," whined Shou.

* * *

~later that day in Samejima's office~

Hayato stood in front of Samejima's desk, having heard from Jaden and Shou what had happened.

"I-I was at the dorm as well," Hayato confessed.

Samejima stared at Hayato, somewhat surprised with his confession.

"S-So, I will be on Jaden's tag team!" said Hayato.

The doors were opened as someone else confessed, too.

"I was at the scene of the crime, as well," she said.

Hayato and Samejima turned, their gaze focused on Asuka as she walked over to them. Samejima was astonished with Hayato's and Asuka's will to help out their friend. Asuka stopped in front of the headmaster's desk.

"Please allow me to be on Jaden's tag team," said Asuka.

"I-I used to think of myself as useless before…" said Hayato.

Asuka looked at Hayato and blinked.

"But after seeing Jaden duel, I want to come to grips with dueling one more time!" said Hayato.

Samejima smiled and chuckled a bit, amused with all the trouble these two students were going through to help out their friend.

"Whenever you get involved with her, everyone seems to get a little crazy," said Asuka.

Samejima looked at both Asuka and Hayato, smiling, though with a somber look in his eyes.

"I know very well how you both must feel…" Samejima said, propping his elbows on his desk as he clasped his hands together. "However, the Yuki-kun and Marufuji-kun tag team was decided by the Inquiry Board."

Asuka and Hayato looked at each other.

* * *

~later in the Osiris Red Dorms~

Hayato had just barely closed the door behind him to the room when Shou threw himself onto the large boy for support. Shou was by all means anxious and frightened as he embraced Hayato, his eyes closed.

"I can't do this!" Shou said frantically. "I'll lose and get expelled for sure!"

Gripping the koala-resembling boy's red and white jacket, Shou called out to Hayato.

"Hayato-kun!" cried Shou. "Please take my place!"

A/N Okay, this may be random, but I actually found Shou's reaction to the tag duel adorable. I wanted to hug him SO badly…

Shou started to hyperventilate as Hayato looked down at him.

"I was thinking the same thing, but anything decided by the Inquiry Board can't be changed," said Hayato.

Jaden was lying back onto her bed, pillow cushioning the back of her head, looking at the cards in her hands with a small pile of them by her side. She overheard Shou and Hayato and, without looking, she tried to reassure Shou.

"Don't sweat it," she said, concentrating on her cards. "We just gotta win, right? Just gotta win…"

Shou let go of Hayato and turned to look at Jaden.

"Aniki, you say that like it's nothing, but have you ever played a tag duel before?" Shou asked as he walked over to Jaden.

Jaden gave a small smile as she adjusted her cards.

"Nope," she said simply, lowering her cards as Shou looked directly down at her. "It'll be fun because I haven't."

Jaden laughed as Shou reacted somewhat negatively to her comment.

"Y-You're nuts!" remarked Shou.

Jaden quickly grabbed her pillow from underneath her head and pushed it into Shou's face. Shou backed up with a muffled yelp as he took the pillow off his face. Jaden sat up and grinned at Shou as he glared at her with the pillow in his hand.

"If you're really my otouto, then you'll suck it up and do the best you can," Jaden said, crawling onto her bed towards Shou, who still happened to be close by. "Or do I have to shove another pillow into your face…or maybe—!"

Shou blinked as Jaden grabbed his glasses and distanced herself from him.

"I'll take your glasses!" Jaden said in a teasing voice.

Shou blinked and placed his hands on his face to feel around for his glasses. Feeling none, he gasped and started reaching for the glasses in Jaden's hand.

"Aniki!" said Shou. "Give them back!"

Jaden placed her hand on Shou's forehead and pushed him away, sticking out her tongue at him.

"Nyah~!" said Jaden. "Not until you stop worrying about losing—yikes!"

Jaden rolled out of her bed as Shou dived at her, missing as he landed on her bed. Jaden stood up and tried not to laugh as she saw Shou's disheveled look from diving into her bed. Shou shook his head and looked at Jaden (once he managed to spot her distinct red jacket with his blurry vision) angrily. Despite his angry look, Jaden found it adorable and snorted as she couldn't take him seriously with that face.

Shou, having heard Jaden, quickly took this opportunity to get out of bed and jump on Jaden. Surprisingly, he managed to grab her around the waist without any mistakes, startling Jaden.

"Aniki, give them back!" Shou said as he reached up with one arm.

Jaden held Shou's glasses up in the air and out of his reach.

"Not until you take out your deck and stop worrying!" she said, gently swatting Shou's hand away. "I still don't know a darned thing about the make-up of your deck."

Shou sighed heavily and reached for his glasses again, his hand getting swatted away once more by Jaden. He sighed again and gave in.

"Fine," Shou said, diverting his eyes to the side. "Just give me back my glasses, Aniki…"

Jaden closed her eyes and grinned widely as she placed the glasses on Shou for him. Shou blinked and adjusted his glasses with one hand.

In another chibi-like manner, Hayato, testing out his new job as the referee, worked on the sign before blowing the whistle. Afterwards, he held up the score of round 4.

Round 4:

Jaden: WIN (Chibi-Jaden bounced up and down, grinning in victory)

Shou: K.O. (Chibi-Shou adjusted his glasses before getting glomped onto the ground by Chibi-Jaden)

A/N Yup, I said glomped and I meant it!

"By the way, you think you can let go of my waist now?" Jaden asked, Shou's face turning red.

Shou let go of Jaden and fell back onto his backside as he distanced himself away from his female roommate.

"S-Sorry, Aniki!" said Shou.

Jaden walked over to Shou and ruffled his hair as she reached for her deck on her bed.

"It's okay," she said as she gathered the scattered cards on her bed. "Let's go have a duel to test out our skills first."

Shou blinked and sighed.

~later~

Hayato looked down from a cliff, staring at his two roommates, who were both at a lower level than he was by the ocean. Shou and Jaden stood on opposite sides, the waves crashing onto the rocks and splashing them slightly with water.

Shou stared at Jaden as she grinned, her expression the opposite of his. Hayato stared at his roommates, both who were about ready to duel each other.

"Jaden…Shou…even though there's nothing I can do…" said Hayato.

Asuka overheard Hayato as she walked up to him. She had been told by Daitokuji where Shou and Jaden were when she couldn't find them in their dorm room.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," reassured Asuka.

Hayato turned and saw Asuka.

"Asuka-san," said Hayato.

"I thought that the Punishment Tag Duel would get her down, and yet she looks pretty happy," Asuka said as she stopped to look down at Shou and Jaden. "Any person involved with Judai feels better than they did. I'm sure Shou-kun will, too."

Shou and Jaden faced each other on their respective opposite sides with their duel disks in hand. Jaden smiled and held out her hand.

"You don't have to hold back," Jaden said, placing her hands on her hips (2). "Let's not think of it as a test in skills, and have ourselves a fun duel!"

Jaden held up her fist in the air as she grinned. Shou looked down, his expression neutral.

"Yeah…" Shou said dully, feeling envious of Jaden's optimism. "I wonder why you look so happy…I mean, they said we're pretty sure to get expelled…"

Jaden crossed her arms.

"Say something?" she asked.

Shou blinked as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"N-Nothing at all," Shou said nervously.

Jaden uncrossed her arms and nodded.

"Okay, then!" said Jaden. "Duel!"

Shou blinked, sighing as he bleakly said, "Duel…"

Jaden:

LP

4000

Shou:

LP

4000

"I'm first!" Jaden said as she reached for her deck. "Draw!"

Jaden drew a card and looked at her cards.

"All right!" she said, looking up from her cards wearing a grin. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!"

Elemental Hero Avian appeared on the field, making his entrance with a flip.

ATK 1000

"Then, I set one card face-down on the field to end my turn!" said Jaden.

Shou frowned as he reached for his deck.

"My turn," Shou said dully. "Draw…"

Shou drew a card and looked at the cards in his hand. A spark of newfound excitement lit up in his eyes as he spotted one of his monsters with an ATK higher than Avian's.

"_Yes!"_ thought Shou. _"Patroid's ATK has a chance against Aniki's Avian! A good start is essential in anything!"_

A small little simulation played within Shou's head involving Patroid attacking Avian and sending him into the cliff with an explosion followed by Jaden praising the blue-haired Osiris Red. Along with the praise, Jaden also said _she_ should be the one calling _him_ 'Aniki'.

Shou laughed quietly, earning a perplexed stare from Jaden. Having been more than a minute, Jaden wondered what was wrong with Shou.

"Oi, Shou!" Jaden called out. "What're you doing?"

Shou snapped out of his blissful simulation with an immediate blink and sweat drop.

"Oh, crap!" said Shou. "I summon Patroid in attack mode!"

A cartoony-looking black and white police car-like monster appeared on the field. It wore a cap with a yellow star and had a red light on its back.

ATK 1200

Shou smiled and snapped his fingers.

"All right, let's battle!" Shou said, jumping back as he ordered Patroid to attack. "Go, Patroid!"

Patroid immediately dashed towards Avian, the light on its back flashing as a red aura emanated from the police car-like monster. The siren blared loudly as Patroid charged towards Avian.

"Siren Attack!" yelled Shou.

Just as Patroid was about to attack Avian, Jaden intercepted the assault with a trap card.

"Trap card, activate!" said Jaden. "Attack Nullification!"

A spiral-like form of energy appeared right in front of Avian, causing Patroid to skid to a complete stop. Patroid stood up and started backing up, his face scrunched up as his energy was depleted.

"Huh?" said Shou. "Patroid's energy is getting sucked away!"

* * *

Meanwhile with Asuka and Hayato,

Hayato sighed.

"He got tricked right off the bat…" said Hayato.

A loud meow caught Hayato's attention as well as the feeling of something brushing up against his leg. Hayato looked down and saw that it was Pharaoh. He bent down and picked Pharaoh up as the tabby cat continued to meow.

"Sure enough, it's just what I was worried about," said Asuka. "Shou-kun might be carrying a heavy load as Jaden's tag partner."

* * *

~back with our dueling Osiris Reds~

Shou turned around and knelt down onto the ground. He began to draw something into the dirt using his finger.

"And here I thought I'd show off how cool I was…" said Shou.

Jaden stared at Shou as he drew in the dirt.

"Shou, you don't really just see a monster's ATK, do you?" asked Jaden.

Shou stood up and turned around.

"Of course I don't!" snapped Shou.

Jaden sighed and crossed her arms.

"Patroid had the special ability to check the opponent's field," explained Jaden. "Since he has that effect, you could've checked that I had my Attack Nullification set up."

Shou frowned and closed his eyes as he talked back to Jaden.

"Quit it!" snapped Shou. "You may be my Aniki, but that doesn't give you the right to lecture me!"

Jaden was taken aback with Shou's reaction.

"What's wrong, Shou?" she asked. "You're not asking like yourself…and remember, I'm a girl, so I'm technically your Aneki, but I digress."

Shou opened his eyes and looked down sheepishly.

"I'm sorry…Aniki, I am acting odd, aren't I?" Shou asked Jaden. "You were just trying to give me some advice…"

Jaden blinked and rubbed the back of her head as she smiled awkwardly.

"No, maybe I _did_ overreact with the lecture," said Jaden. "There aren't any social standings amongst duelists!"

Jaden tightened her fist and held it up as she smiled.

"I'm gonna give it my all without giving any advice!" Jaden said as she reached for her deck. "My turn! Draw!"

Jaden drew a card and looked at her hand (AKA, cards for those of you who don't know card game terms).

"_All right, I'm counting on you!"_ she thought as she played a card. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!"

Elemental Hero Sparkman appeared on the field next to Avian.

ATK 1600

Jaden grinned and said, "Here I go, Shou! Sparkman, use your Spark Flash on his Patroid!"

Sparkman charged up electrical energy between his hands and held it up before grabbing it. He threw the electrical energy, like a javelin, at Patroid. Patroid grimaced as the javelin-like electrical energy pierced through him and destroyed him. A small explosion of smoke was made from the attack.

Shou braced himself as the smoke from the explosion.

Shou:

LP

3600

Shou gasped.

"Attack Shou directly, Avian!" said Jaden.

Avian stretched his wings and created a whirlwind aimed at Shou before diving in and punching the blue-haired boy. Shou yelled as he was punched back onto the ground.

Shou:

LP

2600

Jaden placed one face-down and ended her turn. She stared at Shou, startling him with her sudden serious actions. He sat up and laughed awkwardly as he smiled.

"It's pretty cruel of you to get all serious so suddenly, Aniki," said Shou. _"I didn't even think Aniki could be _this_ serious!"_

Asuka looked at Shou as Hayato placed Pharaoh onto the ground.

"Has he lost the will to fight already?" she asked. "Hang in there, Shou-kun."

Hayato stood up and stared at Shou, whom was sitting on the ground. The koala-resembling boy gritted his teeth and growled as something within him snapped.

"Get it together!" yelled Hayato.

Shou blinked and looked up at Hayato.

"If you're getting depressed over stuff like that, you'll look even worse than a first-year repeater like me!" yelled Hayato.

Shou frowned.

"Hayato-kun…" said Shou.

"Pull it together!" yelled Hayato. "Pull it together, Shou!"

Shou blinked as his thoughts focused on Hayato's sudden outbursts.

"A guy like him, who never yells much, is cheering for me as hard as he can…" Shou said, a few moments passing before he clenched his teeth and got off the ground. _"I have to fulfill…his expectations!"_

Shou tightened his fist as he stared at Jaden with a change in his expression.

"It's my turn!" said Shou.

Asuka looked at Shou, noticing his sudden motivation. Hayato bent down to pick up Pharaoh again after the tabby kept rubbing against his leg. Asuka looked at Hayato with a small smile.

"Looks like your cheering got him his motivation back, Hayato-kun," said Asuka.

Hayato looked at Asuka, having heard what she said. He gave Asuka a small smile.

"Since I'm hopeless, I think I understand how others who get discouraged feel," said Hayato.

Pharaoh meowed.

"I'm pretty sure you can understand how others feel because you're not the useless individual you think you are," said Asuka.

Hayato blushed slightly, smiling at what Asuka told him.

"G-Go figure…" he said.

"Draw!" Shou said as he drew a card.

Shou stared at the card and his hand, thinking over carefully to plan his next move.

"_The monsters in my hand don't stand a chance against Aniki,"_ thought Shou. "I activate the Magic card, Pot of Greed, from my hand!"

Pot of Greed allowed Shou to draw two cards from his deck. Shou stared at the cards he draw, his eyes widening as he gasped. In his hand were two Magic cards, one of them the reason for his surprised reaction.

"_Power Bond…"_ thought Shou.

Jaden stared at Shou, noticing the change of his expression.

"_What's with Shou?"_ she thought. _"Did you really draw an awesome card, or something?"_

Shou stared at the card, Power Bond, remembering its effects as well as the flashback it carried along.

"Power Bond is treated as a Fusion, but…it can double the ATK of the Machine-type Fusion Monster that's special-summoned," Shou said, clenching his teeth at the memory that popped up. "But it's a card my Onii-san barred-off from me, telling me I can't use it yet. That day…while I was still a grade schooler, I dueled against a bully named Gorisuke."

* * *

~flashback~

_A younger Shou was dueling against a pudgy, somewhat older boy by what seemed to be a playground._

_Shou:_

_LP_

_1600_

"**It was my chance to triumph over his usual bullying in a duel," explained Shou.**

_Gorisuke:_

_LP_

_1900_

"_M-My turn!" said Shou. "Draw!"_

_Shou drew a card and looked at it, smiling ecstatically as it was Power Bond._

"I drew it!"_ thought Shou. _"It's the Power Bond I got from my onii-san! Since I've drawn this, he's easy pickings!"

_Standing on Shou's side of the field were two monsters, both cartoony-looking mechanical ones of a train and a helicopter._

"All right, if I just use Power Bond to special-summon Steam Gyroid, its ATK will be doubled,"_ thought Shou. _"Its ATK will be 4400! Take away Gear Freed's 1800, and it'll deal 2600 damage to Gorisuke, making it a stunning upset! I'll be able to see that bully Gorisuke with tears rolling down his face!"

"_What's up with you?" asked Gorisuke. "Did you draw some really good card, or something? You're such a spazz…"_

_Shou laughed and placed his hand on his hip._

"_Gorisuke-kun!" said Shou. "You've been treating me like a fool and bullying the heck out of me all this time, haven't you? But now, that balance in power is about to be thrown off in a big way!"_

_Gorisuke looked perplexed._

"_What?" he exclaimed._

_Shou grinned._

"_Go ahead, be afraid!" Shou said as he held up his card. "Soil yourself! Bow at my feet, you cowardly gorilla!"_

A/N Wow…Shou used to act this way…cute~! Sorry, had to say that…

_Gorisuke scowled at Shou._

"_You freakin' punk!" snapped Gorisuke. "After talking all that smack, when you lose, I'm gonna make you pay!"_

_Shou laughed._

"_And when that happens, I'll do a lap around the schoolyard, doing a handstand butt-naked!" said Shou._

"_Okay, then," said Gorisuke. "It's a deal between us guys."_

A/N Oh, dear god…Shou, what have you gotten yourself into?

_Shou laughed._

"_You're gonna show me how a gorilla looks like crying," he said. "Behold! It's the killer card I got from my Onii-san!"_

_Shou was about to play it when a sudden, familiar voice stopped him._

"_Hold it!" yelled someone._

_Whoever had yelled at Shou, startled the poor boy badly that he fell forward and landed flat face-first onto the ground after shrieking. He pushed himself up, glaring at whoever had stopped him._

"_Who's trying to get in my way?" said Shou._

_Shou's eyes widened as he gasped once he saw who had stopped him. Walking right past him was a boy older than him by at least two years with dark, blue-green hair and teal-colored eyes._

"_Ryou-nii-san," said Shou._

_The older boy was in fact Shou's older brother, the one who had given him, Power Bond. Ryou walked over to Gorisuke, showing the bully a card._

"_Hey, sorry, but I'll let you have this to forget this duel ever happened," said Ryou._

_Gorisuke looked at the card Ryou offered him and snickered._

"_Don't see any harm in stopping, then…" said Gorisuke._

_Shou's eyes widened and he immediately got off the ground. He was annoyed with what his older brother had done. Gorisuke had already left, taking the card Ryou had offered him._

"_Why did you stop me?" said Shou. "I was going to win this turn, too!"_

_Ryou diverted his eyes at Shou._

"_You don't deserve to use that card yet," said Ryou._

_Shou blinked._

"_Until you're competent enough to be called a 'duelist', that card is barred-off from you," said Ryou._

_Shou's eyes widened._

"_Why?" he asked. "How come?"_

"_You can't understand why?" asked Ryou. "In that case, take a good look at the card that was face-down on the field."_

_Ryou held up a card for Shou to see. The card was a trap and had a picture of a hexagram on it._

"_Hexagram Curse!" said Shou._

_Ryou turned his head._

"_As long as this card is on the field, the opposing monster it's designated to is unable to attack or change its battle mode," explained Ryou. "The ATK of a Fusion Monster special-summoned with Power Bond is doubled. However, as its risk, the player will take damage equal to the original ATK of that monster at the End Phase of his turn."_

_Shou bit his lip and looked down, his eyes beginning to water._

"_Even if you had special-summoned Steam Gyroid, not only would it end up not landing its attack…" explained Ryou, "…but Power Bond's risk would, instead, have you take damage to its original ATK, and you would have lost."_

_Shou fell onto his knees despondently._

~end of flashback~

* * *

"I don't deserve to use this card…" Shou said as he stared at Power Bond. "This card is still barred off from me…"

Shou closed his eyes, clenching his teeth as he trembled. Jaden's eyes widened at noticing Shou's distressed form.

"_What the heck?"_ thought Jaden. "_Now he's started quivering?"_

Jaden placed her hand by the side of her mouth.

"Oi!" said Jaden. "What's the matter?"

Shou opened his eyes and gasped. He shook his head a few times before switching out Power Bond with a different card and held it out. Jaden blinked at Shou's sudden change in expression.

"I activate the Magic card from my hand!" said Shou. "Polymerization!"

Shou stared at Jaden as Polymerization was activated.

"Just you watch, Aniki…" said Shou. "Now I'll get some payback with my Fusion Monster! I fuse Gyroid and Steamroid in my hand together…to fusion-summon Steam Gyroid!"

Shou held two cards up as Gyroid and Steamroid appeared on his side of the field. Steamroid was the train-like monster from Shou's flashback while Gyroid was the helicopter-like monster. Both Steamroid and Gyroid were pulled into the Polymerization vortex.

The result of the fusion was a monster with an appearance of a combination between a train and a helicopter, Steam Gyroid.

ATK 2200

Shou and Jaden stared at each other for a few moments, their monsters doing the likewise. Shou was the one who spoke first.

"Battle!" he said. "Hurricane Smoke!"

Steam Gyroid blew out a lot of smoke from its whistle, the propeller around its waist beginning to spin rapidly. Soon, it created a huge whirlwind of smoke around itself that was aimed at Avian. Avian coughed from smoke inhalation and looked within the whirlwind.

Steam Gyroid charged towards Avian wearing a grin as it blew its whistle. Avian was attacked and soon destroyed. The aftermath of the attack took effect on Jaden, causing her to collapse onto one of her knees.

Jaden:

LP

2800

Shou gave a satisfied smile as Steam Gyroid returned to his field. Jaden looked down, her hair covering her eyes and her expression neutral.

"I end my turn!" said Shou. "Well, Aniki? I've got a little beat, huh?"

Shou's breath hitched as he saw Jaden grin and heard her start laughing. Jaden lifted her head up as she laughed, her eyes opening as she looked at Shou. She smiled and held her fist up.

"This is the kind of duel I'm talking about, all right!" said Jaden. "Shou, things have gotten a little interesting!"

Shou smiled widely.

"_Wha?"_ he thought.

"Awright!" shouted Jaden. "Let's give it all we've got!"

Shou laughed a bit nervously.

"Uh, y-yeah…" said Shou.

"It's my turn!" Jaden said, reaching for her deck. "Draw! Okay! From my hand, I activate the Magic card, Polymerization!"

Jaden held up Polymerization. The Polymerization vortex appeared as Jaden chose her monsters to fuse.

"Sparkman…and Clayman…" said Jaden. "Your powers are going to call forth a new power!"

Sparkman nodded and jumped into the cloudy sky with Clayman. Lightning sparked in the clouds as a loud crack of thunder added to the effect.

"I summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" said Jaden.

Hayato and Asuka looked at the duel, a loud crack of thunder startled Pharaoh. Pharaoh meowed and jumped out of Hayato's arms.

"This outcome is clear," said Asuka.

Hayato looked at Asuka questioningly.

"How come?" asked Hayato. "Shou's still giving it his all, isn't he?"

Asuka looked at Hayato, past duels with Jaden and experiences with Thunder Giant popping up in mind.

"Thunder Giant destroys one monster with an original ATK that's lower than his own ATK," explained Asuka. "You wouldn't believe how my Cyber Blader was taken down by that special ability."

Hayato's breath hitched.

"Huh?" he said. "Then…"

Hayato turned to the duel as Thunder Giant appeared out of the clouds. Shou watched as lightning flashed behind Thunder Giant. He knew of the Elemental Hero's special ability, having been there when Jaden used the Fusion-Monster against Asuka.

ATK 2400

"Vapor Spark!" said Jaden.

Thunder Giant pointed his index finger into the sky. A bolt of lightning shot out of his finger and into the cloudy sky, causing a shower of sparks to rain down on Steam Gyroid. Steam Gyroid shielded himself, but was no match against Thunder Giant's power. The attack caused a small explosion, destroying Steam Gyroid.

Shou stared at the spot where Steam Gyroid once stood.

"My favorite card just…!" said Shou.

Jaden held out a card in her hand, which happened to be her signature female Elemental Hero (her _only_ one), Burstinatrix.

A/N Jaden's signature male Elemental Hero would be Avian and her signature Fusion-Monster would be Flame Wingman, so it's official! Well, in _this_ AU it is.

"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in attack mode!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Burstinatrix appeared in the air and flew around Thunder Giant until she was in back of him.

ATK 1200

"Launch a direct attack on that player!" said Jaden.

Thunder Giant charged up a sphere of electrical energy in his hands.

"Voltic Thunder!" yelled Jaden.

The sphere was thrown directly at Shou, shocking the poor boy with its electrical energy. Shou yelled as he was shocked before falling onto his knees despondently.

Shou:

LP

200

"Another attack!" said Jaden. "Burst Fire!"

Flames appeared in Burstinatrix's hands as she held them up, merging the flames together into a sphere. She then threw it at Shou, sending the blue-haired boy back onto the ground.

Shou:

LP

0

Jaden winked and pointed two fingers at Shou as she grinned.

"Gotcha!" she said. "That was sure a fun duel, Shou!"

Shou sat up and frowned at his loss.

"I knew I'm no good…" said Shou. "There's no way I can win that tag duel."

Jaden blinked as she walked over to Shou.

"What're you talking about?" asked Jaden. "The fall you took was something else, but up till then, it was a close match."

Shou looked down and said, "But…"

Jaden stared at Shou with a perplexed expression, remembering what happened earlier.

"You had a weird look when you drew that card…" Jaden said, eyeing the Shou's hand. "Let me see your hand."

Without waiting for a reply, Jaden bent down and took Shou's cards out of his hand. Shou gasped as Jaden caught him by surprise. Jaden looked over Shou's cards and gasped when she spotted a certain Magic card.

"Why didn't you use Power Bond?" Jaden asked as she looked over Power Bond. "Had you used it, your ATK would've been doubled."

Jaden looked down at Shou.

"Steam Gyroid would've become a powerful monster with 4400 ATK, wouldn't he?" she asked.

Shou got up from the ground immediately, his fists tightened.

"I can't play it!" snapped Shou. "My Onii-san barred that card off from me!"

Shou snatched his cards from Jaden's hand. Jaden blinked as she saw Shou's eyes begin to glisten with unshed tears.

"I _knew_ there's no way I could ever be on a tag team with you, Aniki!" said Shou.

Shou turned and began to run away from Jaden as he started to cry.

"Shou!" said Jaden.

Shou ignored Jaden and continued to run away. Hayato gasped and turned towards the dorms.

"Shou!" he yelled.

Asuka watched as Hayato ran towards the dorms in hopes to catch up with Shou. The Obelisk Blue looked back at Jaden. Jaden stared out into the ocean, her expression neutral as her thoughts focused on what Shou had said.

A few moments later,

Asuka walked up to Jaden, wondering what was wrong with the usually-optimistic Osiris Red.

"What could be up with a person who always as cheerfully as you today?" asked Asuka. "You look glum somehow."

Jaden continued to stare out at the ocean, watching the waves as they splashed against the rocks.

"Well, a duel should be something fun, right?" said Jaden. "And yet, when he duels, he looks kind of distressed."

Jaden turned to Asuka.

"He has a killer card like Power Bond, but…" Jaden said, remembering Shou's words. "He said stuff about it being barred-off by his Onii-san and wouldn't use it."

Asuka's eyes widened as she gasped at the mention of Shou's older brother. Jaden blinked.

"What is it?" she asked Asuka.

Asuka looked down.

"Shou-kun has a real brother, and he's in this Academy," replied Asuka.

Jaden blinked and nodded.

"That's right!" said Jaden. "He told me! Uh…Top of the Third-Year Obelisk Blue, Ryou Marufuji, right?"

Asuka nodded and Jaden turned around, thoughts focused on Shou's behavior.

"I wonder what happened between Shou and that big brother of his…" Jaden said as she looked out into the ocean.

"Jaden…" said Asuka.

An idea popped into Jaden's head and she punched her fist into her hand.

"All right!" she exclaimed. "I'll now right after I have a duel with him!"

Jaden turned to Asuka and smiled. Asuka gasped and stared at Jaden perplexed.

"Huh?" said Asuka. "Jaden, don't you already know? Ryou Marufuji is the Third-Year…"

"The Third-Year Obelisk Blues' top guy who's nicknamed 'Kaiser', right?" said Jaden.

Jaden tightened her fists and grinned widely.

"Things have finally gotten interesting!" she exclaimed, laughing a bit afterwards.

Asuka looked at Jaden and sighed.

"_Jaden…you're just…"_ Asuka thought, smiling as she said, "…too interesting to handle…"

Jaden pumped her fist into the air.

"Just you wait, Kaiser!" exclaimed Jaden. "We're gonna duel!"

* * *

A/N End of chapter, to be continued in the next. Remember! NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism and reviews are welcomed!

(1) Quote taken from episode 6 of DarkSideIncorporated's _Yu-Gi-Oh GX Abridged_, the one that I heavily recommend in watching. I don't own it and the only reason I placed it in there was because I couldn't resist. Seriously, too irresistible to leave out…_especially_ since _this_ was _Shou_!

(2) As pointed out by, may he rest in peace, Raymscreator in his _Yu-Gi-Oh GX Abridged Series_; Jaden was standing like a girl. I just barely noticed that…I still recommend watching that series as well.

Well, next chapter!


	6. Turn 06

Chapter Six

When She Helped Out

Day One of Tag Duel Preparations (Continued)

~later that day~

Jaden walked down the hall, her thoughts focused on the earlier events as she entered the store. She walked up to the counter girl and requested something. The counter girl nodded and handed Jaden a paper. Jaden nodded and thanked the counter girl.

A few moments later,

Jaden was now sitting in one of the counter stools in the store tapping her mechanical pencil on the paper given to her by the girl. She swung her legs back and forth, alternating with the other as she read the paper. She pressed down on the pencil's eraser, pushing out the lead until she was satisfied with a certain amount.

"Let's see…" Jaden said, beginning to fill out the paper. "'Duel Request—Jaden Yuki'…"

Jaden's thoughts began to focus on Shou as she wrote down her name.

"_Something must've happened with him and that big brother of his if he couldn't use Power Bond at the last moment…"_ Jaden thought, smiling as she looked over her paper.

Jaden lifted her pencil up, the eraser tapping against her lips as she thought.

"_But if that's the case, I may as well duel his brother,"_ Jaden thought, lowering the pencil back onto the paper to continue writing. "They say you have to duel first to get to know someone."

Jaden continued to fill out the 'Duel Request' form, not noticing Professor Chronos walking by. Professor Chronos spotted the gender-mistaken girl. The blonde-haired professor's curiosity got the better of him when he noticed the paper Jaden was writing on. He walked over to Jaden and snatched the paper out from under her, earning a surprised gasp from her.

Jaden looked up and saw her 'Duel Request' form in Professor Chronos's hand. Professor Chronos skimmed through the form, his interest piqued when he realized it was a 'Duel Request' form.

"Hmm…a Request for a Duel…and the opponent is…" Professor Chronos said, his eyes diverting over the opponent's name.

Professor Chronos's eyes widened at the name. He closed his eyes and placed his hand on the side of his head.

"_Gorgonzola Cheese_!" he exclaimed. (1)

Jaden held out her hand and stared at Professor Chronos slightly annoyed.

"Please give it back!" said Jaden. "I haven't finished writing it yet!"

Professor Chronos narrowed his eyes at the gender-mistaken Osiris Red.

"See here, that won't be necessary," said Professor Chronos. "After all, you're a million years too early to even challenge Marufuji Ryou…the most-skilled of the Duel Academy—"

Professor Chronos waved the form in front of Jaden's face as he pointed at it. Jaden puffed up her cheeks and pouted…rather cutely, and interrupted the blonde professor.

"And Shou's older brother!" Jaden added.

Professor Chronos sighed and shook his head. He pointed an accusing finger at Jaden, almost poking the tip of the Osiris Red's nose. Jaden blinked.

"Don't interrupt me, dropout boy!" snapped Professor Chronos. "A dropout like you duel a skilled duelist like Marufuji Ryou? Ha!"

Professor Chronos ripped Jaden's form in half before ripping it into multiple, smaller pieces. Jaden's eyes widened in horror as her jaw dropped.

"_Oh god, why?"_ she thought as she saw the pieces of paper flutter down onto the ground.

* * *

~meanwhile~

Shou sat in his bed with his knees pulled up to his chest with a blanket draped over his head. He stared at the card in his hand, Power Bond. His brother's voice echoed in his head.

"_You don't deserve to use that card yet,"_ Ryou's voice echoed.

Shou gasped and closed his eyes tightly. He covered his ears with his hands as Ryou's voice continued.

"_Until you are competent enough to be called a 'duelist', that card is barred-off from you,"_ said Ryou's voice.

Shou changed his position and was now crouching onto his bed. His fists were tightened, shaking as he closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth. The blanket draped over his head now covered him fully.

"That's right…I'm not fit to be Aniki Jaden's partner!" Shou said to himself.

A small simulation of the tag duel played in Shou's head. It involved one of his and Jaden's opponents taking control of his monster and attacking Jaden. Jaden was on the ground, her life points down to 0, reaching out for Shou and calling his name while Ryou laughed at their loss.

Shou popped out from under his blanket, his eyes wide with fear from the simulation.

"This is horrible!" he shrieked.

* * *

During that moment in the forest,

Hayato sat up high on a tree branch as he went through his deck. He came upon a koala-based monster card and stared at it thoughtfully.

"I can't let go of this card, after all," he said.

Hayato blinked as he heard someone walking by with heavy footsteps. Whoever it was, Hayato swore he could feel their anger and wrath emanating from them. He stayed still and listened as whoever had been walking through the forest was getting closer and currently grumbling.

"_Jaden?"_ thought Hayato.

It was Jaden and she was mad…enraged more likely as she tightened her fists. What Professor Chronos had did to her irritated her to no end.

"Damn that Professor Chronos!" said Jaden. "He didn't have to tear it up right in my face!"

Jaden stopped walking and crossed her arms. Unbeknownst to her, she was standing right under the tree Hayato was in.

"Fine!" she said. "If that's how it is, then…"

Jaden exclaimed and froze as cards rained down on her. She opened her eyes and looked up.

"W-What the?" said Jaden.

Jaden blinked, her mouth opened slightly in shock, as she stared at the sight that lied before her. Hayato had lost his balance and dropped his cards as he clung onto the tree branch to prevent himself from falling off. The way he was now clinging onto the branch reminded Jaden of a certain animal and got her saying…

"A-A koala?" she said, her eyes narrowing a bit as she realized who it really was. "It's just Hayato…"

Hayato turned his head and looked at Jaden.

"Y-Yeah," he said.

Jaden sighed and knelt down to take a look at the cards that were on the ground. She picked one up and turned it over. Blinking, she looked up at Hayato with a sly smile.

"Don't tell me you've got the motivation to duel…" said Jaden.

Hayato closed his eyes and smiled.

"T-That's not it!" said Hayato. "Just doing a little card fortune-telling!"

Jaden gathered up all the once scattered cards into a neat little stack. She stood up and placed her hands on her hips as she looked at Hayato.

"Uh-huh…" she said with a grin. "Oh, I can't stick around here. See ya!"

Jaden waved at Hayato and turned around. Hayato stared at her as she ran off.

"Where are you off to, Jaden?" asked Hayato.

"I'm going to march into Obelisk Blue!" Jaden shouted, not once looking back.

Hayato's eyes widened as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"W-What?" exclaimed Hayato.

"I'm gonna duel the Kaiser!" yelled Jaden.

This shocked Hayato so much that he lost his grip on the branch and fell onto the ground.

* * *

~later in the Obelisk Blue Dorms~

Jaden was shoved back forcefully and landed rear-first on the ground. She winced and opened her eyes immediately as she glared fiercely at the two Obelisk Blue boys who were standing right in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing?" she yelled.

One of the Obelisk Blues, a dark-brown haired boy, scowled at Jaden.

"Know your place, you crummy Osiris Red dropout," he said.

The other Obelisk Blue, a black-haired boy, agreed with the dark-brown haired boy.

"Do you think we'd let a guy like you get near the Kaiser?" he asked.

Jaden got up from the ground immediately with her fist tightened up in rage.

"W-What was that?" snapped Jaden.

Jaden's eyes widened and she closed them immediately as water, courtesy of the dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue who held the once-filled bucket, was thrown onto her head. She wiped her eyes and glared at the both Obelisk Blues as they turned and walked away, laughing at her. Jaden clenched her teeth and growled at them, her hair and the part top of her uniform now drenched.

"Shit!" she said through clenched teeth.

Hayato had watched what had happened from behind a tree.

"T-This is pathetic," said Hayato.

A few moments later,

Hayato walked Jaden back to the Osiris Red dorms after handing her a towel. Jaden toweled her hair, angry with the Obelisk Blue members who laughed and threw water on her. On a different subject, she wondered how they would've reacted to her if they'd known she was a girl. She snorted and shook her head.

"_They'd still do it,"_ she thought.

Hayato stared at Jaden, who was still irritated and angry.

"Geez, stop being so hasty," said Hayato.

Jaden would've listened to Hayato, but it'd be a cold, _cold_…_very_ _**cold**_ day in hell when she'd give up that easily. She was far too stubborn to do that…_especially_ since she was just drenched in water from the neck up and laughed at by two guys who thought themselves far more superior than her.

"Damn Obelisk Blues!" said Jaden. "Those jerks…This isn't gonna make me quit! Mark my words, I'm dueling the Kaiser!"

Hayato mushroom sighed.

"_Why am I not surprised?"_ thought Hayato.

Jaden toweled her hair one last time before shaking her head. Her hair puffed up afterwards, caused from toweling and shaking her head. She handed Hayato the towel and began to smooth down her puffed up hair. Hayato stared at Jaden, mentally laughing at how amusing it was to see her like this.

Hayato and Jaden stopped in front of the door to their room. Jaden grabbed the doorknob and turned it, opening the door. She looked around the room and spotted a tell-tale bulge under the covers of Shou's bed. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Aw, darn it, Shou…" Jaden said, opening one of her eyes. "You stay cooped up inside all hours of the day and you don't even show up for your classes…"

"Jaden, we didn't have classes today," said Hayato.

"I'm talking about the duel preparations!" snapped Jaden.

Jaden walked over to the bunk beds.

"You're turning into Hayato!" said Jaden. "As if Koala-man wasn't enough…"

Hayato blinked and scowled at Jaden with both his fists held up.

"Hey!" he said. "Can it with the rude remarks!

Jaden closed her eyes and crossed her arms as she stood in front of the bunk beds.

"Count that as payback for the 'no assets' comment," Jaden said as she climbed up the ladder.

Jaden stopped by Shou's row and grinned as she grasped onto the covers. She then pulled them off in one quick motion, expecting the moping blue-haired Osiris Red to be under the covers. However, Shou was not under the covers or even in his bed. What had been under the blanket was a pillow, which Jaden was currently staring at.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "Shou's…"

Jaden stared at the pillow for a few more moments before giving an outburst.

"That's ingenious!" she exclaimed (2). "Okay, where is he?"

Hayato walked into the room and looked around, spotting something on the desk. He walked over to the desk to get a closer look and gasped when he realized what it was.

"W-What's this?" he said.

Jaden blinked and jumped off the ladder as she rushed over to Hayato's side. Hayato picked what had been on the desk…a letter. Jaden looked at the paper curiously and tried to get a look at it by standing on her toes. Finding it a difficult feat (due to her short height) to look at the letter while Hayato had it in his hands, she decided to screw it and just ask him what it said.

"What's it say?" she asked.

Hayato read the letter over and knew immediately at once it was from Shou due to the handwriting.

"_This is just a short note for you guys,"_ Shou's voice said in Hayato's mind as he read the letter. _"I, Shou, am leaving the island. Don't try to stop me, Aniki. Life is nothing but a long goodbye!"_

Jaden, stubbornness getting the better of her (once again), had climbed onto Hayato's back to read the letter. After reading it, she jumped off the large boy's back and snatched the letter out of his hands. She crumpled the paper in her hand, angry at what Shou had written.

"That jerk ran away?" Jaden said as she gripped the letter tightly until her hand was shaking.

Hayato stared at Jaden, noticing her anger in her expression. He was taken aback with how she was almost shaking.

"What are we going to do now?" Hayato asked Jaden, hoping to calm her down a bit.

Jaden blinked and looked at Hayato, her expression somewhat softened.

"Let's look for him!" she answered.

Hayato looked at Jaden perplexed.

"Huh?" he asked. "With dinner right around the corner?"

Jaden growled and grabbed onto Hayato's sleeve as she started to run out, dragging the large boy along.

"You'll live, just come on!" snapped Jaden.

Hayato sighed and followed Jaden as the gender-mistaken girl dragged him. It was best not to get on her bad side…especially in a situation like this.

Sometime later,

Jaden and Hayato looked around by the seaside after dashing out of the forest. Jaden looked frantically around for any sign of the blue-haired Osiris Red.

"Shou!" she called out. "Where are you?"

"Shou!" shouted Hayato. "Come on out!"

Jaden, seeing Shou wasn't here, ran down the seaside pathway. Hayato trailed after Jaden, looking around as he ran after her in case they missed anything.

"Shou!" yelled Jaden. "Come back!"

Jaden stopped and looked around carefully. Hayato slowed down his pace as he tried to catch his breath.

"Shou, you jerk…I'm begging you, come out!" Hayato yelled, placing his hands on his knees as he panted. "Dinner's going to be over…"

Jaden clenched her teeth and broke into a run again.

"Shou, when I get my hands on you, I'll—!" yelled Jaden. _"I don't mean it!"_

* * *

Meanwhile somewhere close by,

The blue-haired Osiris Red that Hayato and Jaden were currently looking for had just finished creating a makeshift raft. Shou held a long stick in his hand as he stared at the makeshift raft.

"This is my only option," he said.

* * *

Back with the searching duo,

Jaden turned a corner, narrowly avoiding falling off the pathway and landing into the water. Hayato trailed after her, exhausted from running and yelling. Unlike the large boy, Jaden wasn't exhausted at all and kept an eye out for the blue-haired boy.

Jaden's deck started glowing brightly, catching the attention of said owner. Jaden blinked and looked to her side, catching glimpse of her glowing deck, which she currently had placed in her right back pocket. A 'kuri kuri' called to her as a small weight rested upon her shoulder.

Jaden diverted her eyes to her left should and gasped as she saw it was Winged Kuriboh. His sudden presence caught a bit off guard, though just a bit.

"Partner!" said Jaden.

Hayato had stopped running, having heard Winged Kuriboh. He looked around and saw nothing.

"There's that voice going 'kuri kuri' again…" said Hayato.

Winged Kuriboh flapped his wings and started flying into a certain direction. Jaden watched Winged Kuriboh as he called to her.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Winged Kuriboh stopped and turned to look at Jaden. Jaden blinked as she stared at the winged furball.

"What?" she said. "'Follow you'?"

Winged Kuriboh nodded and said, "Kuri kuri!"

Jaden blinked and gasped.

"Could that be where Shou is?" thought Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh started to fly away in the direction he pointed out to Jaden. Jaden turned around and waved at Hayato.

"This way!" she yelled, breaking into a run afterward.

Hayato held out his hand.

"W-Wait, Jaden!" yelled Hayato.

Jaden ignored him as she continued to follow Winged Kuriboh. Hayato sighed and ran after his roommate.

* * *

Elsewhere,

Ryou stood by the lighthouse with his arms crossed as he stared out into the sunset. Footsteps caught his attention and he turned his head. He stayed silent as the person, Asuka, walked up and joined him in watching the sunset. After a few seconds, Ryou spoke.

"Get your hands on anything?" Ryou asked without looking way from the sunset.

Asuka shook her head.

"No…" said Asuka. "Another day like any other is uneventfully passing by. All the while, any signs of my brother have vanished into the waves…"

"Be patient," reassured Ryou. "I'm sure one day…"

Asuka nodded and said, "Yeah, I know."

Asuka looked at Ryou.

"That reminds me, I saw one of your otouto's duels," she said.

"So what?" asked Ryou.

"I won't give any comments, but now, Jaden Yuki wants a duel with you," said Asuka.

Ryou continued to stare into the sunset, thinking over where he heard that name before.

"Jaden Yuki?" he repeated, a few moments passing before he remembered where. "Ah, from the entry exams…"

Asuka stared at Ryou.

"Will you take him up on his challenge, Ryou?" she asked.

Ryou stayed silent whilst Asuka waited for an answer. Suddenly, a voice yelled out, breaking the silence between them.

"Aniki!" exclaimed someone.

Both Ryou and Asuka turned their head, finding the voice familiar. They looked at the docks, but saw no one. They looked around and stopped when they spotted a familiar blue-haired Osiris Red standing by the seaside pathway near a makeshift raft. Asuka gasped.

"That's…" Asuka said.

Ryou finished for Asuka, "Shou!"

* * *

Back on the seaside pathway,

Shou watched as Jaden ran into view, his eyes widening at the sight of the gender-mistaken girl. He turned and hopped into the raft, pushing it off from shore. Jaden saw this and picked up the pace quickly before Shou could get any further. Jaden pushed herself off the ground as she leapt into the air and landed right in front of Shou on the makeshift raft.

Shou stared at Jaden with wide eyes as she began to stand up on the raft. The sudden weight and force on the makeshift raft caused a tilt in balance and as a result, it capsized. Both Jaden and Shou screamed as they fell into the water.

Jaden was the first to pop out of the water and inhaled deeply. She looked around for Shou and spotted him spitting out water from his mouth as he began to struggle and flail in the water.

"H-Help me!" cried Shou. "I can't swim!"

Shou turned around quickly and grabbed a hold on the closest thing by him…Jaden. Jaden clenched her teeth as Shou's weight added with hers made it difficult to stay afloat. It didn't help that both Osiris Reds were pretty much almost the same height, making it even difficult for Jaden to support Shou.

"Hey, don't cling to me!" Jaden said as Shou clung on to her with his arms around her neck. "We're gonna sink!"

Hayato watched as he saw Jaden and Shou sink under the water. The last thing he saw before they sunk down completely was Jaden's hand, follow by a big splash. Winged Kuriboh flew over by where the duo had sunk.

"Kuri kuri!" he said in a concerned tone. "Kuri kuri!"

Hayato called out to his roommates.

"Shou!" yelled Hayato. "Jaden!"

Hayato jumped into the water, creating a big splash…before realizing first hand that he was in shallow water. The water barely reached up to his waist, as he found out when he opened his eyes.

"Ah…it's shallow," he said.

Not long after, both Jaden and Shou popped out of the water. They stood up straight as they inhaled deeply. Shou coughed a few times, having swallowed some of the salty water. Jaden shook her head and looked down as Winged Kuriboh flew to her side.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Winged Kuriboh returned to Jaden's shoulder before disappearing. Shou had finished coughing and turned to Jaden.

"Just let me go in peace, Aniki," said Shou.

Jaden turned to Shou and looked at him with an enraged expression in her eyes. Shou turned away immediately, slightly intimidated and preferring not to make eye-contact with his Aniki while she stared at him with that face. Had he looked closely, he would've noticed that Jaden was actually more hurt than enraged.

"You don't have to worry about me…" Shou said as he looked down, crossing his arms. "Just search for a different partner, and you'll least escape being expelled, Aniki."

Jaden clenched her teeth and held her fist up as she glared at Shou.

"Quit complaining!" snapped Jaden. "I've made up my mind!"

Jaden placed her hands on Shou's shoulders and gripped them as she shook him.

"_You're_ my partner!" yelled Jaden.

Shou looked away after Jaden stopped shaking him. He frowned as he looked at the waves crashing into the rocks. Jaden blinked and let go of Shou, whom was silent. She stared at him as he finally spoke.

"But I've got no chance the way I am now!" said Shou.

Jaden clenched her teeth and held up her fist. Hayato watched concernedly at Jaden, her body language speaking for herself about how close she was to lashing out on Shou. Jaden was trying her hardest to not beat Shou senseless for his current behavior. Luckily, a voice interrupted them, which was just about enough time for Jaden to calm down on her rage a bit and focus on whoever had spoken.

"How pathetic, Shou," someone said.

The drenched Osiris Red trio looked up and spotted Asuka standing next to an older, Obelisk Blue student. The older Obelisk Blue was a boy, about 17, with dark green-blue hair and teal-colored eyes. Hayato and Jaden didn't recognize the boy, however…Shou did.

"O-Onii-san!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden stared at the boy Shou referred to as his older brother.

"So, that's Kaiser Ryou," said Jaden.

Ryou stared at Shou with a stoic expression.

"Trying to run away?" said Ryou.

Shou blinked as Ryou stared at him.

"I-I…" said Shou.

Ryou closed his eyes and looked down.

"That's fine by me…" said Ryou.

Shou frowned and looked down, his eyes beginning to water. He started to walk over to the remains of his makeshift raft. Jaden turned away, hearing Shou trudge through the water. She saw his somber expression and his watery eyes. It hurt Jaden to see Shou like this…

"Shou…" Jaden said, reaching out for the blue-haired boy. "_Shou_…"

Shou froze as he noticed a change in Jaden's voice. It was more aggressive than concerned and he turned, his expression turning nervous once he saw the glint in Jaden's eyes. As much as it hurt her to see Shou like this…it enraged her even more to see him try and run away. Jaden walked closer to Shou before pulling him into a headlock. Shou never had a chance to get away…

"Shou!" she exclaimed as she started mashing her knuckles into Shou's scalp.

Shou began to struggle as the pain from Jaden's noogie.

"Ah!" yelled Shou. "Stop! No! C'mon! Anikiii!"

Jaden shook her head and continued giving Shou his noogie.

"No!" said Jaden. "You had me worried! Shou, you jerk! You—!"

Jaden stopped, much to Shou's relief, but she still kept her grip on him. Shou sighed and blinked as he could've sworn he heard Jaden sob. Just as he was going to turn his head, Jaden brought him closer to herself. She caught her blue-haired friend by surprised when she began to embrace him.

"Don't go…" said Jaden. "Don't…go…"

Shou blinked as he heard the hurt tone in Jaden's voice.

"Aniki, are you crying?" Shou asked as Jaden tightened her hold on him.

"No I'm not!" snapped Jaden. "Water got in my eye…Are you still going to leave?"

As much as it hurt Shou to hear Jaden like this, his decision was already made.

"I have to…" said Shou.

Jaden clenched her teeth and pushed Shou away. Shou staggered back a bit, blinking as he looked at Jaden before turning around, facing the raft's remains. Jaden turned around and wiped her eyes a bit before looking up at Ryou. Ryou blinked as he saw the gender-mistaken glare at him, her eyes slightly red.

"Your otouto said he's going to leave!" said Jaden.

Ryou smirked and turned his head away.

"No helping it, I guess," said Ryou.

Jaden growled and tightened her fists, enraged up to the point where she was almost shaking. She glared daggers at Ryou.

"If that's the case, why don't you at least give him a farewell present?" yelled Jaden. "With a duel between you, the Kaiser, and me!"

Shou's eyes widened and he turned around to look at Jaden. He was surprised with her sudden outburst.

"A-Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Ryou stared at Jaden as she glared at him.

"Duel with you?" said Ryou.

Ryou closed his eyes and gave a small smile.

"Fine," he said. "Come on up, Jaden Yuki."

Jaden grinned widely and held up her fist.

"Now we're talking!" said Jaden.

Ryou blinked as he stared at Jaden. The way she was drenched paired up with how she looked right now, it was almost kind of cute. Almost being the word, until he remembered who Jaden was. He turned and shook his head.

"_What was that about?"_ he thought.

Meanwhile in Jaden's thoughts,

"_Ha!" _thought Jaden. _"Another point for the gender-mistaken Yuki-kun!"_

"A-Aniki!" said Shou.

Jaden snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Shou. She looked at him sternly.

"You'd better watch closely," Jaden said, looking back at Ryou. _"And realize something through our duel."_

Jaden stared at Ryou and smiled at him.

~later at the docks~

The sun had set, the sky was a dark blue-black, and the stars were just about close to appearing in the sky. Jaden and Ryou stood facing each other on opposite sides of the field. Shou stood in between Asuka and Hayato, the three of them watching Ryou and Jaden.

"Duel!" said Ryou and Jaden.

Shou watched as both Jaden and Ryou drew their first hand to prepare for the next draw. Shou placed his hands on his head as he looked anxiously at his brother and gender-mistaken roommate.

"What am I supposed to do?" exclaimed Shou. "To think this happened because of me…Aniki can try all she wants, but if she gets dealt with by my Onii-san…"

Jaden smiled at Ryou, her eyes sparkling with awe.

"Woo!" she said, awed by the fact that she was dueling the Kaiser. "To think I'm able to duel against the duelist they call best in the Academy…"

Jaden closed her eyes and tightened her fists as she grinned widely.

"It's getting me fired up!" said Jaden. "By the way, Shou…don't say anything! You brought this onto yourself!"

Shou clamped up, his cheeks tinged with a small blush in embarrassment. Jaden reached for her deck.

"I'll go first!" Jaden said as she drew a card. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card and then her hand. She looked up and smiled.

"I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Avian appeared on the field with a flip.

ATK 1000

Jaden placed a face-down and ended her turn. She looked at Ryou, wondering what he was going to do.

"My turn," Ryou said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Ryou glanced at the card and played it.

"I summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode," said Ryou.

Out from the ground, a serpent-like silver-armored dragon popped out and appeared right behind Ryou, hissing once.

ATK 2100

Jaden was taken aback with the sudden 5-star monster summoned.

"You summoned a 5-star monster without even sacrificing?" exclaimed Jaden.

Ryou looked at Jaden, his expression stoic as ever.

"It's Cyber Dragon's special effect," he explained. "It can be summoned without sacrifices when there are monsters on your field and none on mine."

Jaden placed her hand on her face and closed one eye as she stared at Ryou's monster, awed.

"Oh, wow!" said Jaden.

Ryou reached for a card in his hand.

"Then, I activate the Instant Magic, Cyclone!" said Ryou. "It destroys one Magic or Trap card!"

A cyclone shot out from the card and went directly towards Jaden's face-down, destroying it. Jaden shielded herself from the card debris.

"He nailed me!" exclaimed Jaden.

"With Cyber Dragon, I attack Avian!" said Ryou. "Evolution Burst!"

Cyber Dragon aimed at Avian and opened its mouth, shooting a fiery blast at the green-clad Elemental Hero. Avian was engulfed within the fiery blast and disappeared. Jaden clenched her teeth at the loss of Avian.

Jaden:

LP

2900

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Shou's face as he watched agape.

"_My Nii-san really is merciless!" _thought Shou.

"Next, from my hand, I activate the Magic card, Time Capsule!" said Ryou.

A sarcophagus with a clock on it appeared on Ryou's side of the field. Ryou grabbed his deck from his duel disk and held it in his hand.

"I can choose a card from my deck…" Ryou explained as he picked out a card, "…and place this card inside the Time Capsule. On my second turn, it'll bring this card back into play."

Ryou held the card in his hand and placed it inside the sarcophagus. The sarcophagus closed and sank down into the ground.

"So, choosing a card you like from the deck, huh?" Jaden said with a grin. "I'm lookin' forward to seeing what you're bringing out."

Shou watched nervously.

"_Don't tell me that card's…"_ thought Shou.

"I end my turn," said Ryou.

Jaden stared at Ryou, her expression now neutral.

"_You certainly hold the nickname Kaiser true to its form, Ryou,"_ Jaden thought as she reached for her deck. _"In your first turn, you've gotten defense, attacking, preparation, and every strategy there is set up."_

Jaden smiled.

"_I'm getting pumped!"_ thought Jaden. "My turn! Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card in her hand and played it.

"I activate Polymerization!" Jaden said as she held two cards in her hands. "It'll fuse Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman from my hand…and summon Elemental Thunder Giant in attack mode!"

One fusion later,

Lightning struck from the sky as Elemental Hero Thunder Giant appeared right where it struck.

ATK 2400

"And now, I activate Thunder Giant's special effect!" said Jaden. "Vapor Spark!"

Thunder Giant attacked Cyber Dragon with an electrical attack, destroying the dragon. Jaden grinned and brought her fist down.

"All right!" said Jaden. "Thunder Giant's special effect destroys a monster with an ATK lower than this guy's!"

Hayato cheered Jaden on.

"Way to go, Jaden!" said Hayato.

Shou just stared at Jaden.

"Aniki…" said Shou.

Jaden looked over at Shou and smiled at him, her fist tightened.

"Now, here I go!" said Jaden. "I use Thunder Giant to attack the player directly! Voltic Thunder!"

Thunder Giant held his fists together and aimed them at Ryou as they charged up with electrical power. Once Thunder Giant charged the electrical power completely, he blasted it towards Ryou. Ryou watched as the attack headed straight toward him, staying stoic…even while he was hit with the blast.

Ryou:

LP

1600

Jaden placed a face-down and ended her turn. Shou watched the duel, his expression now serious.

"_Aniki's awesome, too…but…"_ Shou thought as he looked at Ryou.

Ryou reached for his deck.

"My turn," he said. "Draw."

Ryou glanced at his card and looked up.

"Due to its special effect, I'll summon Cyber Dragon without any sacrifices," said Ryou.

A Cyber Dragon appeared on Ryou's side of the field in attack mode.

"Next, from my hand, I activate Monster Reborn!" said Ryou. "I'll revive the Cyber Dragon in my Graveyard!"

Another Cyber Dragon appeared next to the one that Ryou had summoned previously. Ryou held up a card.

"And then, I'll…fuse them both," Ryou said, turning the card over, revealing it as Polymerization.

Both the Cyber Dragons disappeared within the Polymerization vortex. Ryou held his hand up.

"I summon Cyber Twin Dragon!" Ryou said as a two-headed cybernetic dragon appeared on his side of the field.

ATK 2800

Hayato was astonished with Cyber Twin Dragon's ATK.

"A-An ATK of 2800?" said Hayato.

"That's not all," said Ryou. "Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice in a Battle Phase."

Hayato was taken aback with this.

"Y-You're kidding!" said Hayato.

Asuka stared at Cyber Twin Dragon.

"And that second attack will be a direct attack on Jaden," said Asuka.

Hayato gasped.

"Oh, no!" he exclaimed.

Jaden narrowed her eyes and glared at Hayato.

"Shut it, Koala-man!" said Jaden. "I don't need no comments from you after the 'no assets' insult!"

Ryou arched his eyebrow at Jaden.

"_No…assets?"_ thought Ryou. _"What are you hiding, Jaden Yuki?"_

Hayato blinked and scowled.

"It's been almost a week since I've said that to you and you've already gotten back at me!" said Hayato.

Jaden sighed and shook her head.

"Never mind…" said Jaden.

Shou looked down and clenched his teeth as he trembled a bit.

"_This is how my Onii-san duels,"_ thought Shou. _"He's thoroughly calculated things in order to win. No one can come close to him, not even Aniki…"_

"I use Cyber Twin Dragon to attack Thunder Giant!" said Ryou. "Evolution Twin Burst!"

Cyber Twin Dragon was about to attack, when Jaden intercepted.

"Reverse card, open!" said Jaden. "A Hero Emerges!"

Shou gasped as Ryou stared at Jaden, slightly caught off guard with her trap card.

"My opponent chooses one card from my hand, and if it's a monster card, I can special-summon it!" explained Jaden. "I only have one card in my hand…And this one's…"

Jaden held up the card in her hand and flipped it over.

"A monster card!" she said, playing the card. "I summon Friendog in defense mode!"

A black, machine-like dog monster appeared on the field. It howled once as it took its position.

DEF 1200

Cyber Twin Dragon continued its attack, destroying both Friendog and Thunder Giant with a fiery blast each. Jaden shielded herself from the blasts' aftermath explosion as her life points depleted.

Jaden:

LP

2500

"With Friendog sent to the Graveyard, its special effect now activates!" said Jaden. "It can add one 'Elemental Hero' and 'Polymerization' card in my Graveyard back to my hand."

Jaden reached for her duel disk and pulled out Polymerization and Elemental Hero Clayman. She held them up in between her fingers. Ryou stared at her, his expression still stoic.

"I end my turn," said Ryou.

Jaden blinked twice and smiled widely at Ryou.

"This duel is fun!" she exclaimed. "Really fun, Kaiser!"

Ryou blinked and gave Jaden a small smile.

"Yeah, same here," he said.

Shou stared awestruck at Ryou.

"_Onii-san!"_ thought Shou.

"My turn!" Jaden said, keeping her grin. "Draw!"

Jaden held the card she drew in between her index and middle finger before playing it.

"I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Bubbleman took his position on the field.

ATK 800

"Bubbleman's the only monster on my field," said Jaden. "And with Bubbleman's special effect, I can draw two cards from my deck!"

Jaden drew two cards. A 'kuri kuri' followed by the presence of a small weight on her shoulder caught her attention. She gasped and turned her head to see Winged Kuriboh perched on her shoulder.

"_Partner!"_ she thought, looking back at her hand and spotted her Partner's card along with another… _"Transcendent Wings…By using this and Wing Kuriboh in a combo, I'll be able to Evolve Winged Kuriboh."_

Jaden reminisced the last time she used Winged Kuriboh and Transcendent Wings in a duel. It was during the promotional exams against Manjoume.

"_My evolved Winged Kuriboh destroys all opposing monsters and deals damage to that player equal to their total ATK,"_ thought Jaden. _"If I can get this off, I'll win. But I can't normal-summon anymore on this turn."_

Jaden looked her cards thoughtfully.

"_I'll bring Winged Kuriboh out on my next turn,"_ she thought._ "I hope I can withstand his attacks…"_

Jaden looked up and lowered her cards.

"I activate the Magic card, Polymerization!" said Jaden. "I'll fuse Elemental Hero Clayman with Bubbleman on my field…and summon Elemental Hero Mudballman in defense mode!"

Elemental Heroes Clayman and Bubbleman disappeared within the Polymerization vortex, coming out as Elemental Hero Mudballman.

DEF 3000

Hayato smiled at Mudballman's DEF.

"With a DEF of 3000, it doesn't matter if Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice!" said Hayato.

Shou blinked.

"_But on my Onii-san's next turn, that card will re-emerge from the sarcophagus,"_ thought Shou.

Jaden looked at Ryou seriously.

"I'll finish my turn," Jaden said as Winged Kuriboh disappeared.

"My turn," said Ryou. "Draw."

Ryou had just drawn a card when the sarcophagus emerged from the ground. Shou stared at the sarcophagus nervously as Jaden breathed in sharply.

"This would be my second turn since activating Time Capsule," said Ryou. "I destroy Time Capsule, and then add the card placed in the sarcophagus into my hand!"

Shou gasped as the sarcophagus was destroyed. The card that was once within the sarcophagus was now glowing as Ryou added the card into his hand. He stared at Jaden.

"Jaden, we've reached the end at last," said Ryou.

Jaden gave Ryou a carefree smile.

"Yeah, I'm pumped for what's going to happen," said Jaden.

Ryou stared at Jaden, her smile starting to get to him.

"I'm sure you are," he said. "You've shown me the utmost of your capabilities. And I, too, have been giving it my all against you."

Ryou closed his eyes and smiled back, Jaden's smile having been contagious.

"I have to give your dueling the respect it deserves," said Ryou.

Shou looked agape, awed by his brother's remark.

"_Onii-san approves of Aniki's dueling?"_ thought Shou.

Jaden blinked and continued to smile as she stared at Ryou.

"_Kaiser, it sounds like you're saying all that to Shou,"_ thought Jaden.

Shou continued to watch, realization suddenly hitting him.

"_That's it!"_ he thought. _"Onii-san duels by considering his opponents and dealing with any and all possibilities! But back then, I…"_

Shou remembered the way he acted against Gorisuke by deriding the older boy. He sighed and looked down.

"_By mocking my opponent and overestimating my cards…"_ Shou thought, closing his eyes. _"I dueled with complete disregard of my opponent."_

Ryou stared at Jaden, his smile having ceased.

"Here I go, Jaden!" said Ryou.

Jaden nodded and looked determinedly at Ryou.

"Bring it!" exclaimed Jaden.

Ryou nodded and reached for a card in his hand.

"From my hand, I activate De-Fusion!" Ryou said, showing the card to Jaden. "This will cancel Cyber Twin Dragon's fusion!"

Cyber Twin Dragon separated from each other and returned to their two original, separate selves with a silent hiss.

"Then, from my hand, I activate the Magic card, Power Bond!" said Ryou.

Shou stared at the card Ryou held up, shocked as it was the one that had been in the sarcophagus.

"_Power Bond?"_ thought Shou.

Ryou played the card and looked at Jaden as he explained.

"This card can fusion-summon a Machine-type monster," explained Ryou. "I'll fuse both my Cyber Dragons on the field with another Cyber Dragon from my hand!"

A third Cyber Dragon appeared in between the two others before a bright light engulfed all three of them.

"I summon Cyber End Dragon in attack mode," said Ryou.

An electric-blue light emanated from the Fusion-Monster that flew onto Ryou's field. The light waned and revealed a larger, silver cybernetic, winged dragon with three heads…Cyber End Dragon.

ATK 4000

"Due to Power Bond's effect, its ATK is doubled!" explained Ryou.

Static crackled from Cyber End Dragon as its ATK was doubled.

ATK: Previously, 4000

Now…8000!

Hayato gasped in shock at Cyber End Dragon's ATK.

"8000!" said Hayato.

Jaden's eyes widened.

"That's almost over 9000!" exclaimed Jaden. _"Whoa…did I just make a DBZ reference?"_

Ryou stared at Jaden questioningly.

"_Did he just make a DBZ reference?"_ he thought, sighing afterwards as he began to explain. "When this monster attacks a defending monster, and its ATK is higher than the monster's DEF…it deals that difference as damage to my opponent!"

Jaden stared at Ryou as she did the math in her head. Her eyes widened as she clenched her teeth and grunted.

"_That's 5000 damage!"_ she thought. (3)

Hayato noticed Jaden's distressed form.

"Hang in there, Jaden!" Hayato called out. "If you can just manage to ride this turn out, Power Bond's other effect'll let you win!"

"He's right," said Asuka. "Power Bond has the risk of damaging yourself with the ATK…that the Fusion Monster started out with at the End Face of the turn it's activated."

Asuka looked at Shou, whom had his fists tightened as he stared determinedly at the duel.

"_The problem isn't the risk…"_ thought Shou. _"What my Onii-san wanted to say back then way…'You must respect your opponents'!"_

"I use Cyber End Dragon to attack Mudballman!" said Ryou. "Eternal Evolution Burst!"

Cyber End Dragon let out a yellow, electrical-like energy blast aimed at Mudballman from each of its three heads, creating an even bigger blast. The blast went right through Mudballman, destroying him, and then right at Jaden. Jaden kept her composure as the blast struck her, determination in her eyes.

After the blast hit Jaden, she looked down. Her hair fell around her face and covered her eyes as her life points depleted to 0.

Jaden:

LP

0

Jaden fell onto her knees, grunting a bit in pain from the attack. Hayato stared at Jaden concerned, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

"Jaden!" exclaimed Hayato.

Asuka stared at Jaden, astonished with the outcome.

"Jaden Yuki…lost?" said Asuka.

Shou stared worriedly at Jaden and called out to her.

"Aniki!" cried Shou.

Shou got no response from his female roommate and started running towards Jaden, calling out to her once more.

"Aniki!" he called out.

Jaden blinked and looked up from where she was at Ryou. She smiled as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"That was sure a fun duel…" Jaden said before yelping as Shou tackled her. "Shou!"

Shou had jumped onto Jaden, his sudden weight on her as well as force caused her to lose balance and topple back onto the ground.

"Aniki!" said Shou. "I'm sorry!"

Jaden stared at Shou before managing to sit up with the blue-haired boy still clinging to her, his arms around her shoulders. She shook her head and looked over at Ryou. Ryou stared as his younger brother clung onto Jaden. Shou stared back at Ryou with determination in his light grey eyes.

Jaden diverted her eyes at Shou as she looked at him slightly annoyed.

"_Shou_…" she said somewhat aggressively.

Shou blinked as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. He slowly turned his head until he was face-to-face with Jaden. Jaden stared at him, a sudden devious grin forming on her lips. Shou cursed mentally as Jaden grabbed him in a headlock and started to mash her knuckles into her scalp. However, unlike earlier, she did it with a more playful intention instead of painful.

"Shou, you jerk!" said Jaden. "Do that again, and I'll skip the first two wake-up warnings for the next month!"

Shou burst into laughter, Jaden following along. Ryou stared at Shou as Jaden continued to give the blue-haired boy a playful noogie. Ryou blinked a few times and looked at the Osiris Red duo with a faint smile on his lips.

The Kaiser turned around and started to walk away, chuckling quietly at Jaden's antics paired up with Shou's. Asuka spotted Ryou and started running towards him. She quickly caught up with him and began to walk with him.

"How was it?" asked Asuka.

Ryou stared out as Asuka walked by his side, his expression stoic.

"That Shou sure has a fine Aniki," said Ryou. "An interesting one…"

Asuka blinked and giggled softly.

"You don't know the half of it," she said, earning a perplexed stare from Ryou.

"Oh, really?" asked Ryou.

Asuka laughed a bit.

"You'll find out soon enough," said Asuka. "You'll have to ask Jaden yourself, if you want to know."

Ryou blinked and turned away from Asuka as he looked ahead. Watching both Obelisk Blues walk away were Hayato, Shou, and Jaden. Jaden had latched herself onto Shou's back, her head propped on top of his with her arms hanging around the side of his neck. Shou didn't mind the close contact with Jaden and just stared on as his brother walked away.

Jaden diverted her eyes down at Shou.

"Your Nii-san's incredible," Jaden said as she got off Shou.

Shou blinked and smiled as he turned to Jaden.

"Yep, and so's my Aniki!" Shou said, latching himself onto Jaden's waist in an embrace.

Jaden blinked and looked at Shou for a few seconds before they both burst out laughing. Jaden patted Shou's head as the lighthouse's light began to shine. Shou looked up at Jaden as she looked back at him.

"So then, wanna go back home and build our decks?" asked Jaden.

Shou let go of Jaden and nodded.

"Yeah!" he said.

Jaden smiled and placed her hand on Shou's shoulder.

"This time, build it so you can use Power Bond, Shou," said Jaden.

Shou nodded with determination in his eyes.

"Got it!" said Shou. "I'll take the bars off for sure."

Hayato, having been watching his roommates, frowned as he held his loud, growling stomach.

"But the dorm's dining hall's been barred off, hasn't it?" asked Hayato.

At that moment Hayato had brought up that subject, Jaden's and Shou's stomachs both growled loudly at the same time. Their eyes widened as they looked down at their stomachs. With all three roommates agreeing on the same thing, the trio didn't hesitate to start running back towards their dorms.

"We can still make it in time!" said Jaden.

Hayato, Shou, and Jaden all laughed as they rushed back to their dorms. Jaden was already ahead of her roommates, yelling at them to hurry up. Shou and Hayato laughed since this was just like Jaden to do that. And so ends another day at Duel Academy…

* * *

A/N End of chapter. You happy I updated two chapters? I am! Remember! NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism and reviews are… the latter being on your own accord! And BTW, if Jaden sounded OOC, it was because she was showing how much she really cares for Shou. In what way, that depends on you. If you want to know what way I look at it... I see it as platonic and sibling-like, but hey! That's just me! Expect the next chapter up…_maybe_ today and if not…tomorrow!

(1) Yes…Professor Chronos _did_ say that in the original.

(2) A reference to _Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Series_ by LittleKuriboh, which I love watching, but _don't_ own. Remember that.

(3) I'm not sure, but I did the math and that was it. Still, not sure if Ryou meant by that difference, so yeah…

Well, that's about it!


	7. Turn 07

A/N And so I've come to this chapter… The one _4kids_ _thoroughly_ screwed up on and made this episode a joke. Hot sauce? Ya gotta be kidding me! Who in the hell _drinks_ hot sau—okay, I do, but I have hyperactivity quirks and I only did that _once_! Let me rephrase that…who in the hell who is _sane_ drinks hot sauce? Well, I'm not sure since a lot of us have certain quirks but whatever! My point it, who gets drunk on hot sauce? Pfft…no, that's so ridiculous, it ain't even funny. Well, I'm done with my rant so carry on!

* * *

Chapter Seven

When He Fought Back

Day…of Tag Duel Preparations

It had been almost a whole week and a half since the 'Power Bond' incident, which had been resolved between the two brothers. More to the point, a certain Osiris Red duo had been at it during that whole time period preparing strategies, building decks, and of course, the occasional waking up with each other by a pile of cards.

Aside from the fact that Shou and Jaden were preparing for a duel that depended on whether or not they would be expelled…life was great, albeit boring due to being excused from classes after the first five days and annoying with the homework they still received, but still great. Reason for the duo being let off from classes was courtesy of Samejima, who decided to give the duo a break after hearing complaints from Professor Chronos about their sleeping during classes, (which were the results of all-nighters pulled out to build decks).

Today was just another day of the week except for Jaden…it was her and Shou's day off from duel preparations. Both have come to an agreement that they needed at least one day to kick back and relax. Today just happened to be that day, and Jaden decided to spend it by lounging around in her secret spot.

Jaden lied back against the soft, green grass with her hands behind her head. She was right under a big, shady tree staring at the azure blue sky with white wisps of clouds. It was a pleasant and relaxing thing to do… watching the clouds in the sky while the waves crashed against the rocks gently below. A pleasant breeze made it all worthwhile for Jaden to have come here today. She closed her eyes and gave out a content sigh as the birds twittered about.

"Boy, that's a nice breeze…" she said, chuckling a bit. "This is my very own spot…"

Jaden let out another content sigh and had just started to doze off when…

"Aniki!" exclaimed a very familiar and _very_ worried voice.

Jaden opened her eyes widely and forced herself to sit up by lifting up her legs into the air and swinging them down quickly afterwards. She placed her hands on her legs as she sat in a very unladylike manner…not that she actually cared about that. It's not like she was wearing a skirt…and yet another reason why she was mistaken for the opposite gender.

Jaden blinked as she saw Shou run up the hill.

"How'd you know about this place?" she asked Shou.

Shou stopped next to her and looked at her perplexed.

"'How'?" said Shou. "You're almost always hanging around here, Aniki."

Jaden looked up at Shou as she blinked owlishly.

"The heck?" said Jaden. "It's _that_ obvious?"

Shou closed his eyes and held up his finger as he grinned.

"Everyone knows," Shou said, opening his eyes and his expression changing immediately. "But I didn't come here to tell you that."

Shou looked concerned at Jaden.

"Aniki, something horrible has happened!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou questioningly.

"What is it?" she asked. "What happened?"

Shou tightened his fists and looked anxiously at Jaden.

"Hayato-kun…might be getting expelled!" answered Shou.

Jaden's eyes widened.

"Huh?" exclaimed Jaden. "Hayato expelled?"

A few moments later at the dorm,

Some of the Osiris Red residents crowded the area by the entrance to Daitokuji's room. That was the first thing Jaden and Shou first saw as they ran towards the dorms. They made their way through the crowd, stopping once they reached the doorway. Luckily for them, the door was opened slightly enough for them to look in.

Inside sitting on the floor around a small table, was Daitokuji and a well-muscled man, who was currently laughing at something. What that was, Shou and Jaden didn't know, but what they did know, was that the man looked like Hayato…an older, tanner, and more muscular version of Hayato. Either way, Jaden couldn't help but ask who the man was.

"Who's the old dude?" she asked.

"He's Hayato-kun's father," answered Shou.

Jaden's eyes widened and she looked at Shou with an astonished look.

"Wha?" said Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden, his expression somber.

"He came in person to take Hayato-kun back with him," explained Shou.

Shou and Jaden turned to the conversation between Hayato and Hayato's father, Kumazo Maeda.

"That Hayato only bein' in Osiris Red is deplorable…" Kumazo said as he crossed his arms. "On top of that, he's failing and has to repeat a grade…He could hardly be more of a pathetic man."

"Well, that's quite something, I guess…" Daitokuji said, laughing afterwards.

Kumazo waited until Daitokuji stopped talking before speaking.

"Then, abandonin' bein' a duelist in good grace and joinin' the family sake brewery is also th' path of a man!" Kumazo said, slamming his hand onto the table. "Am I wrong, Professor?"

Daitokuji just stared at Kumazo.

"N-No," replied Daitokuji. "Ah, that's _Satsuma shochu_ liquor, if I'm not mistaken-nya."

"Go n' help yourself, if you want," Kumazo said, placing a large bottle wrapped in paper.

Daitokuji waved his hands as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head. Accepting this bottle wouldn't make him a good example to his students. The last thing he needed was to teach class while hung over…

"Oh, no, no, no," said Daitokuji. "I couldn't do that-nya."

Kumazo ignored Daitokuji and went back on subject about Hayato.

"So, therefore, I'm takin' Hayato back home, as of today!" said Kumazo.

Shou looked anxiously at Jaden.

"What should we do, Aniki?" asked Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou.

"It's obvious what we should do, isn't it?" asked Jaden. "We're going to see how Hayato feels about this."

Shou and Jaden carefully ran away from Daitokuji's doorway and made their way up the stairs. Jaden opened the door and called out to Hayato.

"Hayato!" said Jaden.

Jaden and Shou walked into the room and gasped at the sight that lay before them. Hayato had his back turned to his roommates as he packed his bag, a pile of neatly folded clothes were by his side. Jaden and Shou ran up to Hayato.

"You're really quitting school?" questioned Jaden.

Hayato continued to pack his clothes inside his back.

"Sure am," he said without bothering to look at Shou or Jaden.

Jaden tightened her fists as she looked at Hayato.

"'Sure am'?" she repeated.

Hayato continued to pack his clothes as he talked to Shou and Jaden.

"Well, on that note, we had a short run together, but take care," said Hayato.

Jaden looked sternly at Hayato, enraged with what he just said.

"You're just giving up on your dreams as a duelist just like that?" Jaden said as she held up her fists. "Are you, Hayato?"

Jaden reached out and placed her hand on Hayato's shoulder. Hayato turned to look at Jaden, tears streaming down his eyes as he cried. Jaden's widened and she immediately backed off, startled with how Hayato was reacting to this.

"Hayato…" said Jaden.

Shou looked at Hayato concerned.

"You're crying?" said Shou.

Hayato looked at Shou and Jaden as tears continued to stream down his eyes.

"I…really never wanted to seriously become a duelist…" Hayato confessed, wiping his tears off using his sleeve.

Hayato took a deep breath and looked down.

"I've felt like 'Well, I guess it'd be nice to be one'…" Hayato said, opening his eyes and looking up. "But it's all different now. I've been thinking of actually trying my hardest for the first time…And it's because I was able to hear a spirit's voice."

Jaden blinked.

"Did you say that to your dad?" asked Jaden.

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Hayato's face as his expression was nervous.

"Hell no!" said Hayato. "My dad is really scary!"

Jaden clenched her teeth and growled. She grabbed onto Hayato's sleeve and started to pull him up.

"Come on!" said Jaden.

Hayato looked at Jaden astonished as he wondered how she managed to pull him off the ground. Shou wondered that too, but stopped as Jaden started to run towards the doorway dragging Hayato with her. Shou followed Jaden as she and Hayato put on their shoes.

~later in Samejima's office~

Hayato, Shou, and Jaden stood in front of Samejima's desk as Jaden explained to him, Daitokuji, and Kumazo.

"And that's the story," said Jaden. "So, is there any way you can give up on expelling Hayato?"

Kumazo looked at Jaden questioningly, his arms crossed.

"Hey, who the heck be ya?" asked Kumazo.

Jaden looked at Kumazo.

"I'm one of Hayato's roommates, Jaden Yuki," said Jaden. "Er…well, his temporary roommate, that is, but that's not the point!"

Kumazo arched his eyebrow at Jaden as Shou introduced himself.

"A-And I'm Shou Marufuji," said Shou.

Samejima looked at Jaden.

"Yuki-kun, I understand how you all must feel, but this is a matter between Maeda-san's family," Samejima said, looking down. "For outsiders to stick their nose into it…"

Kumazo stared at Jaden.

"Fine," said Kumazo.

Samejima looked at Kumazo, who grinned.

"However, there's one condition," added Kumazo.

Jaden blinked owlishly as she stared at Kumazo.

"Condition?" echoed Jaden.

Kumazo looked at Hayato.

"You're going to duel me, Hayato," said Kumazo.

Hayato gasped.

"If you beat me, we'll pretend this lil' matter never happened," said Kumazo. "But if I win, you'll come back home with me on th' double."

Hayato stared at his father in shock, moving only when Jaden pulled on his sleeve. Hayato looked down at Jaden as looked at him with her chocolate brown eyes, wearing a look that read 'Say no and I'll kick your ass.'

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Hayato's face as Jaden continued to stare at him. Shou looked at Jaden and Hayato, sighing as he shrugged.

"Well?" said Jaden.

Hayato looked at Kumazo, who wore a grin.

"How about it?" asked Kumazo. "You accept?"

Hayato blinked and his expression turned from nervous to serious.

"I do!" said Hayato.

"Then, th' duel'll start tomorrow mornin'," said Kumazo.

Jaden raised her hand.

"I'll be sure to wake him up!" said Jaden.

Hayato diverted his eyes away.

"That's if you don't sleep in…" muttered Hayato.

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Hayato.

"What was that, Koala-man?" said Jaden.

Hayato coughed and said, "N-Nothing."

Jaden nodded and let go of Hayato's sleeve.

"That's what I thought," Jaden said, crossing her arms as she turned away.

Kumazo looked at Samejima.

"So, ya'll decided, Samejima?" asked Kumazo.

Samejima nodded and smiled.

"Mm-hmm," said Samejima. "It's truly appropriate for Duel Academy. I think it is a good way to resolve things."

Sometime later outside the Main Academy Building,

Shou, Jaden, Daitokuji, and Hayato were walking back towards the Osiris Red dorms. Jaden had her hands behind her head and wore a big grin, not noting the angry look on Hayato's face.

"In any case, I wasn't expecting him to okay things so easily, you know?" said Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden, his expression somewhat concerned.

"He didn't specifically okay anything yet…" said Shou. "There's the whole 'if he wins' condition attached."

Jaden took her hands off her head and laughed.

"It's pretty obvious Hayato will win," said Jaden. "He's facing his amateur dad."

Daitokuji stopped walking and coughed loudly to catch his students' attention.

"For reference's sake, allow me to tell you something-nya," said Daitokuji.

Hayato, Shou, and Jaden stopped walking. Jaden and Shou looked at Daitokuji perplexed.

"Hayato-kun's father is a legendary duelist who has gained fame worldwide as a master of the _Satsuma Jigen_-style," explained Daitokuji.

Jaden and Shou listened as Daitokuji continued his explanation.

"The _Satsuma Jigen_-style is a one-hit kill sword style that specializes in _datotsu_ sword strikes," said Daitokuji. "He's a frightening master of the art, said to slice his opponents in moments…with his one-hit kill that applies its secrets."

Shou's and Jaden's eyes widened as they gasped.

"So the rumors say, anyway-nya!" said Daitokuji.

Shou and Jaden fell back anime-style, slightly disappointed with what Daitokuji just said. They quickly recovered and Jaden was the first to speak.

"T-Then, Hayato knows that?" asked Jaden.

Shou and Jaden looked at Hayato. Hayato turned around and glared at them as they smiled at him ecstatically.

"Is that right?" said Jaden. "If that's the case, we'll help you out!"

Jaden pumped her fist into the air and placed her arm around Shou's shoulder. She dragged him over to Hayato before putting her arm around the koala-resembling boy's shoulder. She pulled her two roommates closer as she smiled widely.

"C'mon!" she said. "Let's hurry up and build your deck!"

Daitokuji stared at his students and laughed.

* * *

~later in the Osiris Red Dorms~

In Daitokuji's room,

Daitokuji and Kumazo sat around a small table holding small ochokos (1), aka cups but still read the little note) in their hands. Pharaoh stood by Daitokuji's side, lapping up the sake that was poured into a small sakazuki for him.

"You don't say!" said Kumazo.

Kumazo laughed and poured in more sake into Daitokuji's ochoko as the professor held it out.

"Well then, it has to be damn rough on you, Professor," said Kumazo.

Daitokuji shook his head and brought his ochoko closer to himself after Kumazo finished filling the cup up.

"Oh, no, no," said Daitokuji. "I wouldn't say that…"

Kumazo looked at Pharaoh as the tabby cat continued to lap up the sake, not once showing any signs of intoxication.

"But anyway, this cat can sure put it down," Kumazo said, taking a drink from his ochoko.

"He isn't 'cat'," said Daitokuji. "He's Pharaoh-nya…"

Kumazo placed his ochoko on the table and started to get up from the floor.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll just be steppin' out to the bathroom," said Kumazo.

Daitokuji nodded and stopped as he remembered something.

"Please watch out for Jaden-kun," said Daitokuji.

Kumazo arched his eyebrow at Daitokuji and walked out of the room. Kumazo left the door open behind him as he walked down the corridor. He stopped when he overheard some students talking in their room, one of them he immediately recognized as his son and his friends.

* * *

~meanwhile in a certain room within the dorm~

Hayato reach over at Jaden, who currently resided in Shou's bunk bed. She pressed her back against the wall as she stuck out her tongue at Hayato, a deck of cards in her hand.

"Give me back my cards, Jaden!" said Hayato.

Jaden shook her head and looked at Hayato's cards.

"Pfft…no!" said Jaden. "I need to look at your deck and…what is this? All of your cards are koalas, Hayato."

Hayato growled and crossed his arms.

"It's a Koala deck," said Hayato. "And you could've asked!"

Shou sat on the floor as he watched Hayato pull Jaden out of the middle bunk bed. Jaden was about ready to punch Hayato while said person was about ready to snatch his deck away from her.

"Aniki, Hayato-kun…can we do this later?" asked Shou.

Hayato and Jaden looked at Shou, blinking at him a few times. Jaden gave back Hayato his deck as said person pulled her down and propped her onto the ground standing up. Shou sighed as both his roommates walked up to him and sat on the floor with him. No one said anything so as a result…it was silent.

A few moments had passed before Jaden broke the silence.

"Do you think you stand a chance with this 'Koala deck' the way it is?" Jaden asked Hayato.

Shou stood up from the ground immediately as he pulled out a card from his pocket. Hayato and Jaden stared at Shou as he handed the card to Hayato.

"Right!" said Shou. "Then, I'll give you this."

Hayato and Jaden looked at the card. The card was of a green kangaroo-like monster.

"It was in a pack I bought the other day, but I can't use it," explained Shou.

Hayato looked up at Shou, astonished.

"You're giving it to me?" asked Hayato.

Shou smiled and nodded

"See, if you add a kangaroo to your koalas, you'll get an Australian Deck, right?" said Shou.

Hayato looked at Shou, his eyes starting to water as he was almost brought to tears by his roommate's action. Jaden blinked and got up from the ground.

"All right!" said Jaden.

Hayato and Shou looked at Jaden, who was currently making her way toward her bed.

"In that case…just wait a sec," Jaden said as she began to look around her bed's mattress for something.

Hayato looked at Jaden questioningly as he accepted the card from Shou.

Listening to their current conversation from outside was Kumazo, who had heard everything. He stared at the door the trio had accidentally left opened a bit, wondering about the conversation.

~the next day~

After a surprisingly _early_ wake-up call from Jaden,

Daitokuji, Kumazo, Shou, Jaden, and Hayato had made their way into one of the Main Academy Building's many rooms. The room was somewhat big and had a large scroll hanging on the wall with writings on it. The writing was written in big, sophisticated letters and read, '_To-kon_'.

Kumazo and Hayato took their respective spots in the room, their duel disks on their arms. Jaden and Shou sat by Daitokuji and Pharaoh, the four of them facing the duel that was about to begin between father and son. Pharaoh meowed as Daitokuji stood up and started to talk.

"Well, allow me, Daitokuji, to serve as the official witness to this duel-nya," Daitokuji said, looking over at Kumazo. "Kumazo Maeda-san, if you lose this duel, you shall allow Hayato-kun to stay at this Academy, right-nya?"

Kumazo stared at Hayato with a slight grin, his duel disk on his left arm.

"That there is fine," said Kumazo. "My word is as good as my bond."

Daitokuji smiled and nodded.

"Mm-hm," Daitokuji said, turning over to Hayato. "Hayato-kun, if you lose this duel, you'll gracefully drop out from school, and succeed in your family's sake brewery. Okay-nya?"

Hayato held up his fist as he looked at Kumazo with determination in his eyes.

"It makes no difference to me," said Hayato.

"Mm-hm," said Daitokuji. "Very well, then."

Daitokuji held up his hand in the air.

"Well then, fight with all you have, without any regrets-nya!" he said.

Hayato activated his duel disk and said, "Duel!"

Hayato:

LP

4000

Kumazo grinned and did likewise.

"Now!" he said. "Duel!"

Kumazo:

LP

4000

Shou sat on his knees while Jaden sat cross-legged with her arms crossed. Both of them stared at Kumazo and Hayato, silence filling the room. Pharaoh broke the silence with a loud meow and it was then the duel began.

"My turn!" Hayato said as he drew a card from his deck.

Hayato stared at the card in his hand and looked up.

"All right," he said, holding up the card. "First, I'll attack with this! I summon Death Koala!"

Death Koala, a large brown and white koala with eucalyptus leaves in its pouch and some in its mouth, appeared on the field in attack mode.

ATK 1100

Jaden's jaw dropped as she stared at Hayato and his Death Koala, shocked.

"W-What?" exclaimed Jaden. "He put Death Koala in attack mode?"

Shou looked at Jaden questioningly.

"Huh?" said Shou. "Something wrong, Aniki?"

Jaden literally got in Shou's face as she stared at him sternly. Shou yelped and stared nervously at Jaden, uncomfortable with how close she really was. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as his light grey eyes met Jaden's chocolate brown.

"Damn straight there's something wrong!" snapped Jaden. "Death Koala's a Reverse Effect monster!"

Shou's eyes widened and he immediately forgot about his discomfort due to the news Jaden told him.

"Wha?" exclaimed Shou.

Two small beads of sweat rolled down the side of Hayato's face as he stared nervously at Kumazo. Kumazo looked at Hayato sternly.

"You damned fool!" snapped Kumazo.

Jaden blinked and diverted her eyes away from Shou. Shou stared nervously at Jaden, her face still literally in his face, their distance practically a few centimeters apart.

"Aniki…" said Shou.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Shou's anxious form. She stared questioningly at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Is it uncomfortable when I'm this close to you?"

Shou diverted his eyes away from Jaden, his cheeks turning red.

"Y-Yes…" he said shyly.

Jaden blinked and her eyes widened in realization. Of course Shou would be uncomfortable when she was this close… she was a girl. A blush tinged her cheeks as she immediately distanced herself from Shou and sat back down in her spot cross-legged. She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

"S-Sorry, Shou…I forgot," Jaden apologized meekly.

Shou looked down, his cheeks still red.

"N-No, it's okay," said Shou.

Jaden sighed and quickly busied herself by watching the duel. Kumazo stared sternly at Hayato, angry for the careless move.

"Death Koala is a card that deals 400 points of damage for each card in the opponent's hand when it's reversed!" explained Kumazo. "The fact that you wasted it by summonin' it in attack mode proves you haven't studied enough!"

Jaden crossed her arms and turned her head away, her cheeks slightly puffed up as she pouted.

"_What's there to study when the effects are written on the damn card?"_ thought Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden and blinked, focusing his gaze back on the duel. Hayato looked down, regretting his first move.

"Y-You're right," Hayato said reluctantly. "I'll finish my turn…"

"You dummy, you're gonna hurry n' quit school and come back home!" Kumazo said, reaching for his deck afterward. "My turn!"

Kumazo glanced at the card in his hand and diverted his eyes on Hayato. He grinned and laughed a bit, earning Jaden's and Shou's full attention. Daitokuji looked at his two students.

"Be sure to observe his mastery, you two-nya," said Daitokuji.

Jaden stared at Kumazo with a serious look in her eyes.

"He's going to show us the one-hit kill dueling that uses the secrets of _Satsuma Jigen_-style," said Jaden.

Shou focused his full attention on Kumazo after hearing Jaden's comment. Kumazo held the card he drew in his hand.

"Here goes, Hayato," said Kumazo.

Hayato stared anxiously at Kumazo.

"Here it comes!" yelled Kumazo.

Hayato closed his eyes and looked down, his teeth clenched. Jaden continued to watch the duel, more alert than ever. Shou did likewise, only in an anxious manner. Daitokuji, wearing his usual smile, chuckled.

Kumazo held his card up in the air.

"I summon Drunken Tiger!" said Kumazo.

A yellow, black-striped tiger appeared on Kumazo's side field holding a sake bottle in one hand as he kneeled. He wore black shades, a sleeveless white T-shirt, and tan-colored pants with a very wide, olive-green waistband with thin, vertical stripes on it.

ATK 1800

At first glance, the tiger was very intimidating…that was until he stood up and exhaled deeply as he staggered back in an inebriated-style. Hayato stared at Drunken Tiger with shock and disbelief, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"Drunken…Tiger?" repeated Hayato.

Jaden stared at Drunken Tiger with wide eyes and shrunken irises in disbelief.

"Eh?" said Jaden.

Shou looked questioningly at Drunken Tiger.

"Is that his one-hit kill?" asked Shou.

"N-No, don't let his appearance fool you," Jaden said, not once moving until she finished her statement.

Jaden tightened her fists and looked at Drunken Tiger with a serious glint in her eyes.

"He may not look it, but I'm positive he has some frightening moves," remarked Jaden. _"Oh, who am I kidding? The tiger's freakin' drunk!"_

Kumazo tightened his fist as he readied a punch.

"Drunken Tiger attacks!" Kumazo exclaimed, directing his punch in Hayato's direction. "Dead-Drunk Punch!"

Drunken Tiger swung his free hand up as he groaned, turning around and stumbling towards Death Koala afterwards. Drunken Tiger managed to knock Death Koala into the air, destroying it. Hayato gasped as Drunken Tiger reached out for him with his suddenly over-sized paw.

Hayato shielded himself as Drunken Tiger's fist passed right through him, leaving an aroma that made the koala-resembling boy gag. Hayato pinched his nose, showing a great dislike of the scent.

"It reeks of liquor…" Hayato gagged.

Hayato:

LP

3300

Jaden stared at the duel, shocked and perplexed at what just happened.

"Dead-Drunk…Punch?" she said questioningly.

Shou moved over to Jaden's side.

"Or in other words, a _cat_ punch…" said Shou. "Blegh…it does stink!"

Shou covered his nose, not wanting to smell the alcohol fumes from Drunken Tiger's attack. Jaden blinked and sniffed curiously, immediately regretting it as she covered her nose.

"Ugh!" said Jaden.

Daitokuji looked over at Jaden and Shou as he petted Pharaoh. He noticed their disgust from the fumes and chuckled.

"Low tolerance for liquor-nya?" asked Daitokuji. "Try not to smell anymore."

Shou and Jaden nodded, earning a laugh from Daitokuji. Kumazo laughed at Hayato's dislike of the aroma as Drunken Tiger staggered around, trying to regain his unstable balance.

"A drunken cat's punch is more than enough for you!" said Kumazo. "I end my turn!"

Hayato let go of his nose, the fumes having drifted away…unfortunately seeing as Shou and Jaden had to put up with it. Thankfully, Daitokuji had a fan in hand.

"Never knew how convenient having one of these would be-nya," Daitokuji said as he fanned away the fumes.

Jaden and Shou couldn't help but nod in agreement. After a few moments, they took their hands on their noses and sighed.

"Now, it's my turn!" said Hayato.

Jaden looked at Hayato and tightened her fist.

"You have to relax, Hayato," said Jaden.

Both Jaden and Shou looked over at Kumazo.

"Right!" said Shou. "Your father might not be as great as you expect!"

Kumazo overheard Shou and diverted his eyes at the blue-haired boy. Shou cried out in distress and quickly crawled behind Jaden to hide. He whimpered a bit from shock as he tried to avoid Kumazo's stare. Jaden patted the top of Shou's head reassuringly to calm him as she spoke to Hayato.

"Just hang in there, Hayato!" said Jaden.

Hayato stared at his deck.

"R-Right!" said Hayato. "Draw!"

Hayato drew a card and looked at it before redirecting his eyes on his hand.

"All right, then, I'll use this…" Hayato said, grabbing a card in his hand. "I activate the Magic card, March of the Koalas!"

Death Koala's card popped out of Hayato's Graveyard as a result of the Magic card. Hayato picked up the card as he explained March of the Koalas' effect.

"It special-summons a Level-4 or lower 'Koala' monster from my Graveyard!" explained Hayato.

Death Koala appeared on Hayato's side of the field in attack mode. Shou stood up behind Jaden and had his hands on her shoulders as he stared out at the duel.

"Hayato-kun went and summoned another Death Koala in attack mode," said Shou.

Jaden turned to Shou, noticing his concerned expression.

"It's okay," reassured Jaden. "March of the Koalas has another effect."

Daitokuji nodded as Pharaoh walked over to Jaden.

"Indeed, it does," said Daitokuji. "It can special-summon a monster identical to the monster special-summoned from the Graveyard from your hand-nya."

"I special-summon Death Koala from my hand!" said Hayato.

Another Death Koala appeared next to the one that was already on Hayato's field.

"Next, I sacrifice both Death Koalas to summon Big Koala!" said Hayato.

Both Death Koalas jumped into the air as smoke enveloped them. The smoke cleared, revealing a bigger and blue-colored Koala monster.

ATK 2700

Kumazo stared at Big Koala as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"Well, I'll be…" Kumazo said, astonished slightly.

Hayato tightened his fist as he stared at his father, determination in his eyes.

"Here I go, dad!" said Hayato. "I use Big Koala to attack Drunken Tiger!"

Big Koala got on all fours and dashed towards Drunken Tiger.

"Surekill!" yelled Hayato. "Eucalyptus Bomb!"

Big Koala lifted up Drunken Tiger in one hand into the air. Drunken Tiger struggled and yelled as Big Koala threw him onto the ground, destroying Drunken Tiger. Kumazo shielded himself from the aftermath of the attack.

Kumazo:

LP 3100

"My turn's finished," said Hayato.

Jaden and Shou smiled ecstatically at Hayato as they cheered him on.

"Nice!" Jaden said as she pumped her fist into the air. "Way to go! Keep it up!"

At the same time, Shou had his fists tightened as he moved them up and down, alternating with the other as he laughed. He continued to do this as he grinned ecstatically and had his eyes closed.

"Go!" shouted Shou. "Go!"

A/N God, Shou was so adorable in this episode…and ooh! My favorite part of the episode is coming up! Ha! Take that, _4kids_!

"It's not over yet!" Kumazo said as he reached for his deck. "My turn! Draw!"

Kumazo drew a card and looked at it. He grinned and held the card up.

"I summon Drunken Angel!" said Kumazo.

Drunken Angel, a young man with long, blonde hair, jumped into the air and stretched out his big, white wings.

"_**Awright!"**_ he called out, laughing afterwards.

Drunken Angel landed on the floor, kneeling down on one knee before he stood up. He wore a white suit with a black shirt underneath and a red necktie along with a black hat. At first glance, he looked rather formal…that was until he stood up straight, showing off his slightly disheveled form as well as the bottle of sake he held in his right hand. He exhaled deeply, laughing afterwards as he wobbled in place.

ATK 1800

Hayato stared at Drunken Angel questioningly.

"Another drunkard?" he asked.

Drunken Angel swung his hand with the bottle of sake up into the air, his body moving around from his unstable balance. He smiled as he stared at Hayato slightly confused.

"_**Whazzat?"**_ slurred Drunken Angel. _**"I ain't drunk just yet, bro!"**_

Drunken Angel held out his hand with the bottle of sake as he looked at Hayato. While Drunken Angel might've denied being drunk, the blush tingeing his cheeks and his inebriated composure said otherwise.

Hayato gasped as he understood what Drunken Angel just said.

"_There it is again!" _thought Hayato. _"I heard a spirit's voice again!"_

Pharaoh meowed and rubbed against Jaden, to which she responded by scratching behind the cat's ears. Jaden stared questioningly at Drunken Angel.

"I wonder if Hayato heard that…" said Jaden.

Kumazo held a card in his hand.

"Next, the Permanent Magic, One Bottle of Sake!" said Kumazo.

Drunken Angel let out another sigh when a bottle of sake appeared right in front of him. His eyes widened as he leaned closer to the bottle of sake.

"And then, the Permanent Magic, Flipping the Table!" said Kumazo.

Hayato gasped as the floor underneath him to where Kumazo was changed into the top of a table. Kumazo got off the table and placed his hands underneath it as he started to lift it up. Kumazo had managed to flip the table up into the air, sending Drunken Angel, the One Bottle of Sake, and Big Koala along with it while Hayato was thrown back onto the ground.

Hayato looked up, his eyes widened as Big Koala headed downwards, landing right on him. Big Koala was destroyed by th fall as Kumazo laughed at the sight.

"See that?" Kumazo asked Hayato. "The Permanent Magic, Flipping the Table, destroys all other cards on my field…and then destroys that many cards on my opponent's field! It's a One-Hit Kill card!"

Shou stared at Kumazo while Jaden picked up Pharaoh.

"So, that's what 'One-Hit Kill' meant?" Syrus said questioningly.

Jaden blinked a few times, her expression somewhat dreamy as she stroked Pharaoh's fur.

"Then it has nothing to do with the _Satsuma Jigen_-style," remarked Jaden. "Basically, it's an almost unfair reset move."

Hayato scowled.

"You're always like this when something goes against your interest, dad!" said Hayato.

Kumazo laughed.

"There's nothing that won't let the head of the house get his way!" stated Kumazo.

Drunken Angel floated to the left, sighing in an inebriated-like manner. He stopped and started alternating which foot he stood on with the other. Hayato stared at Drunken Angel perplexed as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"Huh?" said Hayato. "Why did he come back? Flipping the Table destroyed him, didn't it?"

Kumazo laughed and smirked at Hayato.

"You're too naïve, Hayato," said Kumazo. "Let me tell you Drunken Angel's Monster Effect. He can't be destroyed by Flipping the Table's effect."

Hayato gasped.

"W-What?" exclaimed Hayato.

Drunken Angel looked around relentlessly for something.

"_**The hell?"**_ he said, hiccupping as he floated in place. _**"That sake bottle disappeared?"**_

Drunken Angel looked around and spotted Jaden. Pointing at her, he called out to her.

"_**Oi!"**_ said Drunken Angel.

Jaden blinked and looked at Drunken Angel.

"_Oh, crap…"_ thought Jaden. _"He's back…"_

Drunken Angel smiled at Jaden in a drunken-like manner and winked at her, earning a wide-eyed stare from her.

"_**Have you seen where that sake bottle disappeared to?"**_ Drunken Angel asked, hiccupping afterwards.

Jaden shook her head as she stared wide-eyed at Drunken Angel. Drunken Angel hiccupped again and looked around for the sake bottle.

"Next, by destroying the Magic card, One Bottle of Sake, and sending it to the Graveyard, its Magic effect activates," said Kumazo. "You'll receive 500 points of damage!"

Alcohol fumes surrounded Hayato, whom reacted by pinching his nose due to his dislike of the scent.

"Reeks of alcohol!" coughed Hayato.

Hayato:

LP

2800

"Brace yourself, Hayato!" said Kumazo. "I attack directly with Drunken Angel! Bottle Cannon!"

Drunken Angel laughed and wobbled around as he held his bottle of sake with both hands. He aimed at Hayato, surprisingly with perfect accuracy despite his drunken state.

"_**Go buy me some booze!"**_ yelled Drunken Angel. (2)

A blast of alcohol fumes blasted out of Drunken Angel's bottle like a cannon. Hayato was hit with the full blast, gagging at the retched scent.

Hayato:

LP

1000

Shou and Jaden gasped.

"Hayato!" exclaimed Jaden.

Hayato recovered from the blast and stared at his roommates with determination in his eyes.

"I'm not done yet!" said Hayato.

Kumazo stared at Hayato.

"_Hmph,"_ thought Kumazo. _"This is turnin' out to be pretty good."_

Kumazo ended his turn as Pharaoh meowed loudly in Jaden's arms. Jaden blinked and placed the tabby cat down. Pharaoh walked over to Daitokuji, to whom picked him up.

"Only 1000 life points left…" said Daitokuji. "This will be a do-or-die situation for Hayato-kun-nya. Oh, and I recommend covering your noses right now."

Shou and Jaden both blinked a few times before realizing what Daitokuji meant. The latter reacted quickly to this, avoiding what the first was now going through. Shou's eyes drooped as a blush tinged his cheeks. He wobbled in his spot and ended up falling to the side onto Jaden. (3)

"Tired…" Shou muttered.

Jaden looked at Shou questioningly as she poked him idly.

"Shou?" she said.

Shou looked up at Jaden with hazy eyes.

"What?" he asked drowsily.

Jaden looked over at Daitokuji, who was currently fanning away the fumes.

"I told you-nya," said Daitokuji.

Jaden blinked and stared at Shou as he leaned on her. Shou was beginning to nod off, opening his eyes the second he drifted off. As Shou fought to stay awake, Jaden sighed and ruffled his hair as she focused her attention on the duel. She tried to ignore Drunken Angel's looks at her and looked away when he winked at her again.

"_What is up with that angel?"_ thought Jaden.

"My turn!" said Hayato. "Draw!"

Hayato drew a card and looked at it.

"_This card…!"_ thought Hayato.

Hayato stared at the card. It was the one that Shou had given to him last night.

"_I…don't want to leave this school!"_ Hayato thought as he placed the card in his hand and grabbed a different one. "I activate the Magic card, Silent Dead!"

Hayato held the card in his hand as it glowed. He grinned as he explained the card's effect.

"It can special-summon a Normal Monster from my Graveyard!" said Hayato. "I'll use it on Big Koala!"

Big Koala appeared on the field in defense mode.

DEF 2000

"_I don't want to leave this dorm!"_ Hayato thought as he wore a determine look in his eyes. "And next, I activate the Magic card, Polymerization!"

Kumazo grunted as Hayato's side of the field glowed. A green, muscular kangaroo monster wearing a purple vest and red punching gloves appeared on the field. The kangaroo monster punched the air a few times before jumping up into the air by Big Koala.

"I fuse Big Koala with the Death Kangaroo in my hand…to summon Master of Oz!" said Hayato.

Big Koala and Death Kangaroo merged with each other, creating a new monster that was part koala and part kangaroo.

ATK 4200

Kumazo's eyes widened.

"_That card…!"_ thought Kumazo.

* * *

~flashback~

_"All right!" said Jaden. "In that case…just wait a sec."_

_Jaden looked through her bed and turned to Hayato with a card in her hand._

"_Right, then" she said. "I'll give you this."_

_Hayato looked at the card as Jaden explained._

"_Its ATK points are 4200," said Jaden. "Use it well, and you'll win for sure!"_

_Hayato looked at Jaden with disbelief._

"_You're giving me an awesome card like that?" he asked._

_Jaden smiled at Hayato._

"_I want you to win," said Jaden. "Now that we've managed to become friends…hell, we've become siblings! We'd be lonely if you went back home."_

_Hayato stared at Jaden, smiling at what she said and slightly blushing. Watching through the slightly opened door was Kumazo. He had seen everything._

~end of flashback~

* * *

Kumazo smiled.

"I use Master of Oz to attack Drunken Angel!" said Hayato. _"And I don't want to be away from Shou and Jaden! I also especially don't want Drunken Angel flirting with Jaden!"_

Apparently, Drunken Angel had taken a liking to Jaden, much to Hayato's displeasure and Jaden's annoyance. Drunken Angel had pretty much tried to keep eye contact with Jaden, which failed heavily. Shou, on the other hand, was still recovering from the alcohol fumes that had left him drowsy.

"Ayers Rocky!" yelled Hayato.

Master of Oz swung its fist back and punched Drunken Angel in the face, knocking him back. Drunken Angel slid to a stop before he was destroyed.

Shou snapped out of his daze from the loud sound and stared wide-eyed at the duel. Jaden watched with anticipation.

"Did he do it?" asked Jaden.

Kumazo:

LP

700

"Your endgame is weak!" remarked Kumazo.

Hayato scowled.

"My turn's finished!" said Hayato.

Shou tightened his fists.

"He's got 700 points left!" said Shou. "He was so close!"

Jaden smiled.

"So, he's no letting him win so easily after all, is he?" said Jaden.

"Hayato!" said Kumazo. "I applaud you for runnin' me down this far! But you're losing this duel!"

"Q-Quit bluffing me," snapped Hayato. "I have my 4200-ATK Master of Oz out!"

Kumazo smirked.

"Hmph!" said Kumazo. "Did you forget that I have Permanent Magic, Flipping the Table? Its ATK could be 4000 or 5000, but I'll flip 'em onto their backs along with this table!"

"Then what'll you do after that?" questioned Hayato.

Kumazo arched his eyebrow as he looked at Hayato perplexed.

"I know 'bout it too!" said Hayato. "I'm your son, after all. Flipping the Table's demerit!"

Jaden blinked owlishly.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "Flipping the Table's demerit?"

"After you use Flipping the Table's effect, you can't summon a monster," explained Hayato.

Kumazo gritted his teeth as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"As long as you end your turn being unable to summon a monster after flipping the table…" Hayato continued, pointing his finger at Kumazo, "…on my next turn, your field will be wide open, dad!"

Hayato smiled and held his fist up.

"I win this duel!" said Hayato.

"Not a bad hunch," Kumazo commented as he closed his eyes. "To have understood Flipping the Table's effects that much…"

Kumazo opened his eyes and smiled at Hayato.

"You've impressed your dad a little," said Kumazo. "My turn! Draw!"

Kumazo glanced at the card he drew and grinned.

"I'm not finished yet!" he exclaimed. "You're about a million years to early to go n' surpass me! Two Bottles of Sake!"

Kumazo played two cards and two bottles of sake appeared by Master of Oz. Shou blinked and started to do the math from what he remembered earlier.

"When one Bottle of Sake is destroyed, it deducts 500 points…so, two Bottles…" said Shou.

Jaden finished for Shou, "Deduct 1000 points…He had that in reverse?"

"And the Permanent Magic, Flipping the Table!" Kumazo added as he flipped the table.

Master of Oz was sent into the air with the table and the two Bottles of Sake. Kumazo smiled and held up two fingers.

"Due to two Bottles of Sake bein' destroyed and sent to the Graveyard…the opposing player's dealt a total of 1000 points of damage!" said Kumazo.

Alcohol fumes surrounded Hayato again, who took no time to hesitate and covered his nose.

Hayato:

LP

0

Shou frowned.

"Hayato-kun lost!" said Shou.

"Hayato!" said Jaden.

Hayato fell onto his knees despondently and looked down.

"_I lost…"_ thought Hayato.

Kumazo stared at Hayato.

~later in the Osiris Red Dorms~

Jaden and Shou ran up to Hayato as he continued packing, putting in the last of his items.

"Are you really going?" asked Shou.

Hayato stopped and said, "I promised, so I have no choice."

Shou frowned, about ready to cry.

"That's true, but…" Shou said, sniffing a bit.

Jaden patted Shou reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Even if you're going over there, make sure you take care," Jaden said, holding out her hand to Hayato.

Hayato turned and smiled at his roommates.

"You guys, too," Hayato said, holding Jaden's hand with both of his hands as tears started to stream down his eyes.

Shou wiped his eyes as he started to cry.

"Well, I'd better get going," said Hayato. "Dad's waiting for me at the foot of the bridge."

Jaden smiled.

"We'll walk you there, then…Koala-man," said Jaden.

Hayato blinked and smiled at Jaden.

A few moments later,

Hayato, Jaden, and Shou walked out of the Osiris Red dorms. They made their way towards the bridge and met up with Daitokuji with Pharaoh in his arms. Hayato looked around, noticing that Kumazo wasn't here and asked Daitokuji.

"Um, where's my dad?" asked Hayato.

Daitokuji looked at Hayato.

"If you mean your father, he went back home on his own-nya," answered Daitokuji.

"Huh?" said Hayato.

Daitokuji reached into his pocket and took out a folded piece of paper.

"And so, he asked me to give this to you," Daitokuji said, handing Hayato the paper.

Hayato took the paper and unfolded it…it was a letter from Kumazo. He looked over it and began to read what was written on it aloud.

"'This time…'" said Hayato. "I'll forgive you out of consideration for your friends.'"

Shou and Jaden tried to get a good look at the letter and stood up on their toes. Hayato reacted to this by lowering the letter, giving his roommates a better view of what was written.

"'You should take good care of those friends 'a yours,'" Hayato read, gripping the paper tightly afterwards.

Hayato suddenly broke into a run, surprising Shou and Jaden.

"Dad!" yelled Hayato.

A few moments later,

Hayato reached Jaden's secret spot, which was right on a cliff. He looked out at the ocean, spotting Kumazo's disappearing form on a small boat. Hayato placed his hands by his mouth and called out to his father.

"Dad!" Hayato called out, holding up his fist afterwards. "I'm…I'm going to get even stronger! And mark my words, no matter what, I'll beat you!"

Hayato continued to stare out into the sea as Shou and Jaden ran up to his side. The trio watched as the boat with Kumazo in it disappeared into the foggy horizon.

~later in the Osiris Red Dorms~

Jaden and Shou were back to building their decks again on the floor of their room. Hayato lied back in his bed on the top bunk as looked over at the letter again. There was something written on it that he didn't want Shou and Jaden…_especially_ Jaden, to see. He read what his father had written in his mind.

"'_And just so you know…tell that lady friend 'a yours, Jaden, that she has my blessing,'"_ Kumazo's voice said in Hayato's mind as he read the last sentence.

Hayato's face burned red. There were many things wrong with that sentence, one being that Jaden was his friend and two…

"_How the hell did dad know Jaden's a girl?"_ thought Hayato. _"And shouldn't this be the other way around?"_

Unfortunately, Hayato's thoughts were interrupted by said gender-mistaken girl.

"What are you doing?" asked Jaden.

Hayato exclaimed and crumpled up the paper as he turned his head, coming face-to-face with Jaden. Jaden blinked owlishly as she stared at Hayato.

"Your face is red," Jaden said, brushing the hair off of her forehead before moving it onto Hayato's.

Hayato blinked as Jaden pressed her forehead against his and held it there for a while. There was an awkward silence between them until…

"You're a bit warm," Jaden said, pulling away from Hayato.

Hayato smiled nervously and covered his face. Jaden raised an eyebrow at him before shrugging and climbing down the ladder. Hayato watched as she climbed down, sighing when she went back to building decks with Shou.

"_She's going to be the death of me, I swear…"_ thought Hayato.

* * *

A/N End of chapter and sorry for not updating yesterday! I got busy involving the dress I had to pick up for my friend's 15! Anyways, here's your chapter and yeah! Original version FTW! Take that _4kids_ and your damn hot sauce! As for that last part with Hayato and Jaden…I was feeling bored and this ended up coming out! As for Drunken Angel…that's what happens when you're up at 11 PM writing things down! Remember, constructive criticism and reviews are a yes! Flames are a HELL NO!

(1) Ochokos are small, cylindrical cups that usually come in with sakazuki, a flat saucer-like cup, and masu, a wooden box cup in a sake set. Yes, I looked that up.

(2) God, I just LOVE Drunken Angel! He's hilarious and I hate _4kids_ for taking that out!

(3) I just decided to do that because I was watching _Case Closed_ (AKA, _Detective Conan_) and in the Case of the Hijacked Department Store, when Conan and the gang were in the liquor isle shooting liquor at the robbers, Mitsuhiko (AKA, Mitch) ended up getting drunk or dozing off from just shooting shaken sake at the robbers. Me being the devious little person I am… couldn't resist doing that since there were fumes and I even researched it and yes…you can get drunk off alcohol fumes.

That's about it and expect the next chapter up either today, which is highly unlikely, tomorrow, or maybe Thursday!


	8. Turn 08

Chapter Eight

Tag Duel Cooperation!

The Day Has Finally Come…

Professor Chronos walked down the hall within the Main Academy Building. He tried to ignore the laughs coming from the Osiris Red students he passed. Even so, the sight of their red jackets made him loathe their existence within Duel Academy.

"_For Pete's sake!"_ thought Professor Chronos. _"Why must this Duel Academy for the elite accept these dropout boys-_no ne_?"_

An image of Jaden Yuki holding up a V-sign managed to make its way into Professor Chronos's mind. The mere sight or thought of the gender-mistaken girl angered the blonde-haired professor.

"_Especially that Jaden Yuki!"_ Professor Chronos thought, a vein popping out on his forehead.

Professor Chronos stopped in his tracks and tightened his fists as he saw red…and oh, the irony and pun.

"Only expulsion awaits people like that!" exclaimed Professor Chronos.

The Osiris Red students who had once filled the hall now made their way into one of the rooms as Professor Chronos laughed to himself. He tightened his fist and grinned.

"But at last, the moment has arrived," said Professor Chronos.

Having been two and a half weeks since a certain Osiris Red duo had been accused… today was the day of their Punishment Tag Duel. If they lose, they'll be expelled immediately, and if they win…pfft! Professor Chronos had made sure that the latter would NOT happen.

"Just you wait, you wretched Dropout Boy…" said Professor Chronos.

"Professor Chronos," someone called out.

Professor Chronos blinked and turned around to see a fellow Obelisk Blue student…Jun Manjoume, to be specific.

"What is it you want, Signore Manjoume?" asked Professor Chronos.

Manjoume had heard of the Tag Duel during the past few weeks a certain duo was suspended from class. Normally, he wouldn't care or give a damn, but after hearing that Jaden was in it…his interest was piqued. Ever since the Promotion Exam duel, Manjoume held a grudge against the gender-mistaken girl and would love nothing more than to humiliate her in front of many students like she did him.

"Please allow me to fight in Jaden and his friend's Tag Duel," said Manjoume.

Professor Chronos stared at Manjoume.

"Allow you?" asked Professor Chronos.

Manjoume tightened his fist.

"This time, I will lay waste to him with my own hands!" said Manjoume.

"That shall not be necessary!" reassured Professor Chronos.

Manjoume's expression went from serious to perplex.

"Huh?" he said.

Professor Chronos closed his eyes, grinning as he held up his finger.

"I have already invited some powerful duelists that are aptly suited for the tag duel-_no ne_," Professor Chronos explained, opening his eyes as he stared at Manjoume. "Moreover, you should be more concerned about yourself. At the rate you are at, you will drop down to Ra Yellow!"

Manjoume's breath hitched as Professor Chronos turned around and started to walk away. Manjoume stared at the blonde-haired professor and gritted his teeth. He was not amused with what he was told.

* * *

~meanwhile in the Osiris Red Dorms (1) ~

Inside a certain trio's room,

Hayato, on his stomach in his bunk bed, stared down at his roommates as they made their final adjustments to their decks. Jaden sat in the desk chair with leg crossed over the other whilst Shou sat on the floor cross-legged.

"It's finally the day, huh?" said Hayato.

Jaden looked up and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, aren't you, Shou?" Jaden asked, turning her head to Shou.

Shou looked up at Jaden, his expression rather vague. Hayato arched his eyebrow at Jaden.

"That's not what you said yesterday when you wouldn't get off your game because of Red," said Hayato.

Jaden glared at Hayato.

"Shut it, Koala-man!" snapped Jaden. "That Trainer was asking for it! Damn him and his silent dialogue…Teach him to use a Level 88 Pikachu…"

Hayato rolled his eyes.

"Riiight," said Hayato. _"Keep telling that to yourself, Yellow…heh."_(2)

Jaden sighed and looked at Shou.

"Anyways…I'm really pumped about our very first tag duel," said Jaden. "Aren't you?"

Shou diverted his eyes away from Jaden.

"Yeah…" Shou said, somewhat hesitant.

Jaden looked back down at her cards.

"Even though they said you'll get expelled if you lose this, all you can really think about is enjoying the duel, isn't it?" asked Hayato.

Jaden looked back up at Hayato.

"That's obvious, isn't it?" replied Jaden. "Duels _are_ fun, after all."

"Maybe that's the secret behind your strength…" said Hayato.

Shou stared at Power Bond, remembering the incident that went along with it. He placed the card in his hand, determination in his eyes.

"_This time, I'll do it,"_ thought Shou. _"As a duelist, as my Onii-san's otouto, and…"_

Shou looked up at Jaden as she spoke to Hayato. The words she told him echoed in his head as he remembered how she acted to him running away.

"_Quit complaining!" _snapped Jaden's voice. _"I've made up my mind! You're my partner!"_

Shou nodded.

"…_for Aniki, who called me her partner, I'll duel honorably,"_ thought Shou.

Shou pushed himself of the ground, his deck in hand. Jaden turned to Shou, noticing the determined look in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Aniki, we'll win for sure, right?" asked Shou.

Jaden uncrossed her legs and stood up from her chair.

"Y-Yeah, no doubt!" Jaden said, placing her deck in her back pocket.

Hayato smiled at his roommates as they made their way to the door.

"I'll be cheering you two on from the spectator's seats," said Hayato.

Jaden and Shou looked at Hayato after putting on their shoes.

"Right!" said Jaden. "We're counting on you!"

"I've got faith in you two'll be coming back here," said Hayato.

Jaden smiled and placed her arm around Shou's shoulder as she held up her fist.

"Yep, we swear we will!" said Jaden.

"We're off now!" Shou said, smiling.

Shou and Jaden looked at each other one last time before they walked out of the room. Hayato watched as they closed the door behind them.

* * *

~later in the Duel Field Arena~

The spectator's seat were somewhat filled by students from each of the three dorms. In one of those seats, Ra Yellow member Daichi Misawa occupied one. He had his arms crossed as he stared out at the field, having been waiting like the rest of the students in the room for this day.

"So, it starts at last…" said Daichi.

"A Tag Duel…" said someone.

Daichi blinked and turned his head to see who had spoken to him. It was Asuka.

"Jaden may have said he never been in one before…" Asuka said as she sat down in a seat next to Daichi.

"You're Asuka Tenjoin from Obelisk Blue," said Daichi.

Asuka turned her head to Daichi.

"It seems you have somewhat of a connection to Jaden, as well," said Asuka.

"Right," said Daichi.

Asuka looked back at the duel field.

"It's my fault this happened…" she said. "And he should have been partnered with me. But even so, I have a feeling he'll manage to pull through…"

Manjoume sat in a somewhat secluded section of the spectator's seats with his arms crossed. He was still rather miffed about what Professor Chronos had said. The last thing he wanted to do right now is talk… The sound of faint footsteps caught his attention. He diverted his eyes in the direction the footsteps came from and gasped.

Entering the Duel Field room was none other than Shou and Jaden. Manjoume scowled and forcefully kicked the back of the seat in front of him. This action earned him stares from his groupies, who sat a few seats away from him.

"Wow!" Jaden said as she looked around the arena. "It sure is packed!"

Shou blinked as he stared at the crowd.

"We're dueling in front of such a big crowd?" Shou said questioningly.

Jaden blinked and ruffled Shou's hair as she smiled.

"So let's put some fire into it!" said Jaden.

Jaden stopped and walked away from Shou, leaving the boy's blue hair slightly disheveled. Shou laughed.

"Geez, come on, Aniki…" Shou said as he trailed after Jaden.

Manjoume watched as Jaden and Shou made their way towards the platform. His gaze was focused on Jaden as he tightened his fist, practically shaking with anger.

"Jaden Yuki!" said Manjoume. "I wanted to crush you with my own hands!"

Shou and Jaden walked up the steps that led onto the platform. Jaden turned around and looked around one more time at the crowd, nudging Shou when she spotted something.

"Oh?" Shou said, turning around.

At the top of the seating area, Hayato ran up and gripped the rails as he tried to catch his breath.

"Hayato's here," said Jaden.

"You're right," said Shou.

Hayato wiped his sweat off with his sleeve, breathing heavily from running all the way from the dorms to the duel field arena.

"Thank goodness…I made it just in time…" Hayato said within breaths.

Jaden held her hand up in the air and waved at Hayato.

"Yo!" she called out before turning and walking away towards Professor Chronos.

Shou turned and gasped. Standing by the rails above the spectator's seats with his arms crossed, was his older brother, Ryou. Ryou stared at his younger brother and his friend, his expression stoic.

"_Shou…in this duel, show me your merit as a duelist,"_ thought Ryou.

Shou stared at Ryou.

"_Onii-san…"_ Shou thought before he turned and walked over to Jaden. _"Just you watch, Onii-san."_

Professor Chronos held up his hand in the air.

"Well then, we will now begin this tag duel!" announced Professor Chronos.

The crowd began cheering and applauding. Samejima sat in the front row seats with his elbows propped on top of the rail, both hands under his cheeks for support. Daitokuji sat a few seats in back of Samejima with Pharaoh in his lap.

"So, will they be facing a teacher or an Obelisk Blue student?" Samejima asked Professor Chronos. "Or could you be the one dealing with things again?"

Professor Chronos turned around and smiled nervously as he held his hands out.

"Not quite…" said Professor Chronos. "We are having this duel to deliberate their punishment for breaking school rules by entering the off-limit zone."

Professor Chronos grinned and held up his finger.

"And their opponents must be duelists appropriate for that task," stated Professor Chronos.

Samejima's face sparkled with curiosity and eagerness.

"Mm-hm," said Samejima. "Then…"

"In order to give you impudent ones a thumping…" Professor Chronos said, turning to Jaden and Shou and pointing at them accusingly. "Parmesan cheese…"

Shou and Jaden back up a bit as Professor Chronos pointed at them.

"I have invited some legendary duelists!" said Professor Chronos.

As if on cue, two men dressed in green and orange (respectively), flipping into the air. This surprised Jaden and Shou.

"What?" said Jaden.

Both men made their entrance in a rather entertaining way, earning the attention of everyone in the arena. Shou and Jaden watched with wide eyes, perplexed as to who the men are.

"What?" they both exclaimed.

The men flipped over Jaden and Shou, landing behind them. Shou and Jaden looked back at them, getting a better look at them. Both of the men were bald, roughly the same height, and identical in looks, differing only in the color of their clothes and the kanji on their foreheads. They both stood up, their shoulders against the other's.

"We are the Roaming Guards!" said the man in orange.

"The Meikyuu Brothers!" said the man in green.

* * *

A/N Okay, on a side note to tell which brother is which…

Orange = Mei

Green = Kyuu

Okay, that's about it! Back to story!

* * *

Jaden and Shou stared at the Meikyuu Brothers in awe.

"Whoa, is this a Hong Kong movie?" asked Jaden.

"Could these people be our opponents?" asked Shou.

Professor Chronos walked behind Shou and Jaden.

"They are legendary duelists known for having fought against the King of Games, Yugi Mutou-_no ne_," said Professor Chronos.

Shou looked anxiously as the Meikyuu Brothers.

"Against the King of Games?" exclaimed Shou.

Asuka stared at the Meikyuu Brothers, some memories popping up.

"I've heard about them," said Asuka. "They are sibling duelists who gave the King of Games a hard time with their invincible combinations."

Daichi stared at Shou and Jaden.

"Those two don't have a chance against opponents like that," said Daichi.

Manjoume laughed quietly, his anger having been called at seeing Jaden and Shou's opponents.

"This is excellent," Manjoume said, smirking. "Suffer an unsightly defeat in front of all those here, Jaden Yuki."

Hayato stared at his roommates anxiously.

"This can't be…" said Hayato.

Ryou…still stoic.

"We hold no grudge to thee, but…" Mei said, holding up his finger.

"…we're locked in battle for reasons of our own," finished Kyuu.

Mei held out his hand.

"If you cannot defeat us…" said Mei.

Kyuu held out his hand in front of Mei's.

"…your path will remain blocked!" Kyuu finished.

"Now, come and fight us!" they both said.

Shou and Jaden stared nervously at the Meikyuu Brothers. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of their faces as Professor Chronos covered his mouth while he laughed.

"_You're scared…"_ thought Professor Chronos. _"You're really scared…"_

"This is quite the drastic measure…" said Samejima.

Professor Chronos stopped laughing and looked at Samejima, who was now gripping the platform with his hands as he looked at the Meikyuu Brothers.

"It's really them…" said Samejima. "It's really them…"

Professor Chronos stared nervously at Samejima as he walked over to the principal.

"But, Principal!" said Professor Chronos. "These two need opponents of this caliber!"

Professor Chronos knelt down on one knee and gestured at the Osiris Red duo.

"For one thing, it would be setting a bad example for the other students," Professor Chronos said simply.

Samejima closed his eyes and smiled.

"Interesting," he said. "Then, I'll allow it."

Professor Chronos looked at Samejima, perplexed. Samejima opened his eyes and motioned at a certain Osiris Red.

"For starters, she's into the idea," said Samejima.

Professor Chronos turned and saw Jaden's ecstatic grin as she stared at the Meikyuu brothers.

"This sounds fun!" Jaden said, eyes sparkling with awe. "I can't believe we'll be fighting against legendary duelists who fought against the King of Games!"

Professor Chronos diverted his eyes on Samejima and muttered as he saw the principal's wide smile. The blonde-haired professor stood up and walked over to the duelists.

"Well, right then…" Professor Chronos said, holding his index finger in the air. "Now, both sides, get into position!"

With that said, both the Meikyuu Brothers and Shou and Jaden got onto their respective sides of the platform as the crowd applauded. Samejima got back into his seat, smiling ecstatically as he laughed. Daitokuji adjusted his glasses as Pharaoh meowed.

Jaden looked at Shou and blinked. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Shou's face. He was nervous and Jaden knew it.

"Oh, Shou…" said Jaden.

Jaden took a deep breath and gave Shou a thumbs-up as she smiled at him.

"I'll be counting on you," she said.

Shou looked at Jaden and smiled, laughing a bit. Professor Chronos stood in the middle of the platform as he explained the rules.

"You cannot give advice to your tag partner-_na no ne_," explained Professor Chronos. "Also, you can treat your partner's field as your own field. Understand-_no ne_?"

All four duelists had their hands by their decks.

"Each team will share 8000 life points!" said Professor Chronos. "So, then…"

"Duel!" finished the audience.

Jaden & Shou:

LP

8000

Meikyuu Brothers:

LP

8000

Jaden drew her first five cards, Shou and the Meikyuu Brothers did likewise. She looked over at Shou and he nodded, drawing a card from his deck.

"It's my turn!" said Shou. "Draw!"

Shou looked at the card in his hand.

"I summon Gyroid in attack mode!" said Shou.

A blue and white, cartoony helicopter-like monster appeared on the field.

ATK 1000

"It's my turn!" Mei said, reaching for his deck. "Draw! I summon Landmine Spider in attack mode!"

A giant, huge (same word, don't give a damn) brown spider…appeared on the field in attack mode.

ATK 2200

A/N …I don't like spiders. I hate spiders as much as I hate roaches only without the grossed out part! I wanna kill that spider…it's creepy!

Jaden reached for her deck.

"My turn," she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden glanced at the card in her hand.

"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in defense mode!" said Jaden.

Elemental Burstinatrix appeared on the field and flipped before getting into her defensive stance.

DEF 800

"It's my turn," said Kyuu. "Draw! I summon Kaiser Seahorse in attack mode!"

A purple and blue colored armored monster with a spear appeared on the field.

ATK 1700

Shou stared at the Meikyuu Brothers.

"_No one can attack on their very first turn,"_ thought Shou. _"The next turn's where the battle starts!"_

"I activate a Magic card from my hand," said Kyuu.

Shou blinked as Kyuu played the Magic card.

"Sacrifice Doll!" said Kyuu. "This card activates by sacrificing one monster on my field."

Kyuu looked at Mei, who nodded.

"I use Landmine Spider as a sacrifice…" Kyuu said as Landmine Spider disappeared from the field. "…to special-summon a Level-7 monster from my hand! Come forth! Demon Wind God-Hyuga!"

* * *

A/N Crap…I don't know how to describe this monster…I'll just place the ATK points! BTW, I don't know if it's Wicked (Wind/Thunder/Water) Lord-(Hyuga/Sanga/Suga) or Demon (Wind/Thunder/Water) Lord-(Hyuga/Sanga/Suga) so yeah…might be some mistakes but I'm trying here, so yeah!

* * *

ATK 2400

Asuka and Daichi were awed with Kyuu's first turn and cooperation with Mei.

"He used his tag partner's monster as a sacrifice to call out a powerful monster," said Daichi.

"This kind of cooperation on the first turn…simply amazing," said Asuka.

Ryou watched the duel with his arms crossed, showing no emotion. Kyuu turned to Mei.

"Thank you, elder brother," said Kyuu.

Mei turned to Kyuu and smiled.

"Do not mention it," said Mei. "I would make any sacrifice for you."

"No, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't give you something in return," Kyuu said, playing a card. "The Magic card, Dark Designator! If a monster that I designate is in my opponent's deck, this card can add that card to my opponent's hand! And I designate…Demon Thunder God-Sanga!"

Kyuu pointed at Mei, who laughed and reached for his deck, drawing a card.

"I thank you," said Mei. "Naturally, I have Sanga in my deck."

Mei placed the card in his hand and held it up.

"Allow us…" said Mei.

"…to give you a lesson…" Kyuu said, placing his hand up.

"… in the true essence of tag dueling!" they both said, pointing at Shou and Jaden.

Shou was taken aback and gasped. Jaden just stared at the Meikyuu Brothers.

"U-Unreal…" said Shou. "To think that they summoned such a strong monster in their first turn right off the bat…"

Shou looked at Jaden, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

"Aniki?" said Shou.

Jaden blinked and turned to Shou. She smiled and pointed at the Meikyuu Brothers.

"These guys are the legendary duelists they're cracked up to be, all right!" she said with her eyes closed. "But we won't lose, won't we?"

Shou closed his eyes and smiled.

"R-Right!" said Shou. "No, we won't!"

Shou opened his eyes and looked at the Meikyuu Brothers, determination replacing the anxiety in his eyes.

"_This is for Aniki, who's putting so much of her faith into me…"_ Shou thought, diverting his eyes up at Ryou. _"And…I'll show my Onii-san just how powerful I am now!"_

Shou reached for his deck.

"It's my turn!" he said, drawing a card. "Draw! I summon Steamroid in attack mode!"

Steamroid, the cartoony train-like monster appeared on Shou's side of the field.

ATK 1800

"Next, from my hand, I activate a Magic card!" Shou said, holding up the card. "Polymerization! I fuse Gyroid and Steamroid…to summon Steam Gyroid!"

From the Polymerization vortex, out came Shou's favorite monster in attack mode.

ATK 2200

Shou pointed at the Meikyuu Brothers.

"I haven't overlooked an important fact!" said Shou. "It was the elder of you Meikyuu Brothers that made the sacrifice for Demon Wind God-Hyuga's summoning. And that means there aren't any monsters to defend the elder's field!"

"Shou!" said Jaden.

Shou held up his fist.

"Steam Gyroid, attack the elder Meikyuu directly!" said Shou.

Mei scowled.

"Damn it!" cursed Mei.

Shou directed Steam Gyroid at Mei.

"Go!" said Shou.

Steam Gyroid charged at Mei, whom suddenly grinned.

"Heh!" said Mei. "That will not be happening!"

Mei diverted his eyes on Kyuu, who nodded.

"Demon Wind God-Hyuga's special ability!" said Kyuu. "Reflection Storm Barricade!"

Shou gasped as Demon Wind God-Hyuga appeared in front of Mei, intercepting Steam Gyroid's attack with a wind barricade. Both Meikyuu Brothers smirked.

"Demon Wind God- Hyuga's special effect will reduce damage from an opponent's monster to zero once!" explained Kyuu.

Shou stared wide-eyed at the Meikyuu Brothers as Steam Gyroid returned to his side of the field.

"No way…" said Shou.

Professor Chronos laughed to himself.

"Always count on dropout boys to do things without thinking…" said Professor Chronos. "Your simplistic attacks won't work on those two!"

Samejima had his hands clasped together as he watched the duel eagerly. Shou frowned and looked down. Jaden noticed her roommate's glum expression and smiled reassuringly at him.

"You almost made it, Shou," said Jaden.

Shou blinked and turned his head to Jaden.

"Aniki…" he said.

Jaden grinned and gave Shou a thumbs-up.

"The duel's just begun," said Jaden. "Let's get crazy on 'em."

Shou nodded.

"Right," said Shou. "I set one reversed card on the field to finish my turn."

"It's my turn," Mei said, drawing a card. "Draw."

Mei looked at his hand and switched out card to play it.

"The Magic card, Monster Reborn!" said Mei. "I call forth Landmine Spider from the Graveyard!"

Landmine Spider returned to Mei's side of the field in attack mode.

"Next, I activate a magic card," said Mei. "Sacrifice Doll!"

"Huh?" said Shou. "Again?"

One slightly similar turn later,

After using Landmine Spider as a sacrifice (again), Mei was able to summon Demon Water God-Suga in attack mode.

ATK 2500

And no, he was not done yet…with help from Kyuu, Mei offered Kaiser Seahorse as a sacrifice. Ryou's breath hitched slightly as he watched the duel.

"When summoning a Light-attribute monster, Kaiser Seahorse can be treated as two sacrifices instead of one," Kyuu explained as Kaiser Seahorse disappeared and thunder cracked. "This summons Demon Thunder God-Sanga!"

A torso-like brown and red colored monster appeared on the field.

ATK 2600

Shou gasped.

Meanwhile with Daichi and Asuka,

Daichi stared at the Meikyuu Brothers' monsters, awestruck.

"What a combo…" said Daichi.

Asuka closed her eyes and shook her head.

"No, it's not quite over yet," said Asuka.

Daichi turned to Asuka and his breath hitched. He looked back at the duel where Shou was staring at Sanga, Hyuga, and Suga nervously. Mei laughed.

"That makes all of them…" said Mei.

"Now, we will show you our ultimate monster!" said Kyuu.

Professor Chronos watched the duel closely.

"_Ultimate…"_ Professor Chronos thought, diverting his eyes to his right.

Professor Chronos's jaw dropped when he saw Samejima standing a few inches away from him, watching the duel closely very eagerly. Daitokuji smiled as he continued to watch the duel.

"Principle!" said Professor Chronos. "Please return to your seat!"

"But I wanted to get a closer look too…" Samejima protested.

"No!" said Professor Chronos.

Samejima grumbled and muttered, "Stingy…"

Pharaoh meowed.

"When Demon Water God-Suga, Demon Thunder God-Sanga, and Demon Wind God-Hyuga are all on the field…" Mei said, all three monsters lighting up as he explained. "…by offering all three as sacrifices, I summon Gate Guardian!"

Gate Guardian appeared on the field, looking like a merged combination of all three monsters that had just been sacrificed.

ATK 3750

Shou and Jaden stared at Gate Guardian agape.

"Gate…" Shou gasped out.

"Guardian?" finished Jaden.

"Go, Gate Guardian!" said Mei. "Attack Steam Gyroid!"

Gate Guardian attacked with a wave of water from its lower level, which its mid-level turned into a whirlpool with wind, followed up with electricity from its top-level. All of which was aimed at Steam Gyroid.

"Demon God Shockwave!" exclaimed Mei.

The electrical-charged whirlpool overwhelmed Steam Gyroid and destroyed him, leaving Shou open for the attack. Shou yelled as Gate Guardian's attack hit him with full force.

Jaden & Shou:

LP

6450

"Their decks were built specifically for tag duels," remarked Daichi. "They've left no gaps in it, as would be expected."

"And since they're brothers, they're in total synch with each other," Asuka added.

Shou and Jaden stared at Gate Guardian as it roared.

"Did you see that?" asked Mei.

"This is how we duel!" exclaimed Kyuu.

Shou stared at Gate Guardian in disbelief.

"To think that Steam Gyroid got killed off in mere seconds…" said Shou.

Professor Chronos laughed to himself.

"_This is good,"_ he thought. _"This is very good. The true essence of tag dueling is to focus your attacks on the weaker of the opponents and defeat them first."_

Professor Chronos stared at Jaden and Shou with a devious grin.

"_Jaden Yuki is surprisingly persistent, but Shou Marufuji is mentally delicate…"_ thought Professor Chronos. _"And that's where they'll come tumbling down!"_

Manjoume had his hands clasped together as he smirked, laughing to himself.

"_I knew all I would do is drag Aniki down…"_ Shou thought as he looked down, frowning.

Shou looked at Jaden and blinked at her ecstatic grin. Jaden stared at Gate Guardian with awe.

"Amazing," said Jaden. "I've never seen this monster before. So, this is the monster that fought against the King of Games, is it?"

Jaden smiled and looked at Shou.

"And we've got the opportunity to fight against it!" said Jaden. "Aren't you just pumped?"

Shou blinked and said, "Huh?"

"I set one reversed card on the field to end my turn," said Mei.

Jaden grinned and reached for her deck.

"All righty, now it's my turn!" said Jaden. "Draw!"

Jaden drew a card and looked at it. She then looked at her hand and picked out a card.

"Okay!" she said, holding the card in her hand. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in attack mode!"

The golem-like Elemental Hero appeared on Jaden's side of the field, punching the air a few times.

ATK 800

"Next, I activate a Magic card!" said Jaden. "Polymerization! It'll fuse Burstinatrix and Clayman together!"

Burstinatrix and Clayman both crossed their arms as a light shone on them.

"Come forth, Elemental Hero Rampart Gunner!" said Jaden.

The fusion-monster formed from Burstinatrix and Clayman appeared on the field with a red shield in one hand and a gun-like hand in the other.

ATK 2000

DEF 2500

"Even though you fusion-summoned it, her ATK is 2000 and her DEF is 2500…" said Shou. "That means she's no match for Gate Guardian, Aniki!"

Jaden smiled and held up her fist.

"Rampart Gunner's special effect activates!" said Jaden. "While in defense mode, this monster can attack the opposing player directly!"

The Meikyuu Brothers' eyes widened as Jaden pointed at them.

"What?" they both exclaimed.

"Go, Rampart Gunner!" said Jaden. "Rampart Shot!"

Rampart Gunner shot a missile-like projectile at each Meikyuu Brother that exploded once they made contact with the ground. Jaden smiled as she continued her explanation.

"You'll only get damaged with half of her ATK with this effect, though," said Jaden.

Meikyuu Brothers:

LP

7000

The Meikyuu Brothers both scowled at Jaden as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of their faces.

"You're not too bad," commented Kyuu.

Shou stared at Jaden with awe.

"Incredible!" said Shou. "That's my Aniki!"

Jaden smiled at Shou and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Jaden. "I end my turn."

Shou looked back at the Meikyuu Brothers with determination in his eyes.

"_Aniki is amazing,"_ thought Shou. _"So, I…So, I…"_

Kyuu drew a card and interrupted Shou in his thoughts.

"It's my turn," said Kyuu. "Draw! I activate the Equip Magic, Meteor Strike. I equip it to Gate Guardian! When a monster equipped with this card attacks a monster in defense mode…if it exceeds its DEF, it'll deal damage to the opponent equal to the difference!"

"I won't let that happen!" snapped Shou. "I'm going to be some use to my Aniki! Reverse card, open! Cyclone!"

A cyclone shot out from the card and went directly at Gate Guardian.

"This card destroys one Magic or Trap card on the field!" explained Shou. "You won't be able to use Meteor Strike!"

"I activate a Trap card!" said Mei. "Judgment of Anubis!"

Shou's breath hitched as Mei explained the Trap card's effect.

"By discarding one card in my hand, this card will negate…an opponent's activated card with an effect that destroys Magic or Traps," explained Mei.

Shou's eyes widened as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Mei discarded a card and the cyclone disappeared.

"In addition, it destroys an opponent's monster and deals that monster's ATK as damage to you!" added Mei.

Rampart Gunner cried out in pain as the effect of Judgment of Anubis destroyed her. Shou and Jaden shielded themselves from the aftermath of Rampart Gunner's destruction. They grunted as their life points took a toll from the attack.

Jaden & Shou:

LP

4450

Mei laughed quietly as Kyuu played a card.

"Then, I summon Defense Wall in defense mode," said Kyuu.

A grey-colored, stone-brick wall monster appeared on the field in a defensive stance.

DEF 2100

"As long as this Defense Wall is on the field in defense mode…all opposing monsters will target this monster for their attacks!" explained Kyuu.

Professor Chronos laughed to himself as Samejima chuckled in amusement. Daichi made an observation and stated it to Asuka.

"For attack, Gate Guardian," said Daichi. "For defending, Defense Wall. They've left absolutely no gaps at all."

Asuka turned her head to Daichi.

"They know the ins-and-outs of tag dueling," said Asuka. "Yet, in comparison…"

"My turn is over," said Kyuu.

Shou reached for his deck.

"My turn…" Shou said, somewhat anxiously. "Draw…"

Shou drew a card and looked at it, frowning after examining it. With not much to do, he played the card.

"I summon Cycroid in defense mode!" said Shou.

An orange-colored, bike-like monster appeared on Shou's side of the field.

DEF 1000

Jaden smiled at Shou.

"I end my turn…" Shou said, looking down. _"I'm sorry, Aniki, for bringing you nothing but trouble…I…I…"_

"It's my turn!" Mei said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Without even taking one look at the card, Mei ordered Gate Guardian to attack Cycroid with the same attack it used on Steam Gyroid, destroying him.

"Meteor Strike's effect will now deal Piercing Damage to the player!" said Mei.

Shou shielded himself as Gate Guardian used the electrical-charged whirlpool on him. Shou tried to endure the attack, but after a few seconds, he yelled out. Hayato, Daichi, and Asuka all gasped as they watched Shou fall onto one of his knees.

Jaden & Shou:

LP

1700

"In the face of us brothers…" said Mei.

"…you are no match!" finished Kyuu.

Jaden looked down, her hair covering her eyes. Shou pushed himself up from the ground and looked down. Ryou continued to watch, his expression still stoic.

"So, it was all futile from the start, huh?" said Daichi. "For their first and sudden tag duel, they're way outmatched."

Asuka nodded.

"Yes," said Asuka. "Not only is each duelist's power important for a tag duel…but so are their combinations with their partner. However, an impromptu team does have its limits."

Daichi looked at Jaden and Shou.

"The properties of Jaden and Shou's deck are far too different," said Daichi. "It doesn't seem like they've tuned them for tag teams, either. Is this the end?"

Asuka stared at Jaden.

"Jaden…" she said.

Hayato gripped the rail tightly as he clenched his teeth.

"_Jaden…Shou…"_ thought Hayato. _"Didn't you guys promise you'd come back to Osiris Red?"_

Hayato grunted.

"Hang in there!" he said.

Manjoume laughed quietly.

"_Facing off against these legendary duelists has made you completely helpless, hasn't it, Jaden Yuki?"_ Manjoume thought, grinning menacingly. _"Suffer an unsightly death!"_

Manjoume clasped his hands together tightly in anticipation. Taiyou noticed his anticipation.

"Manjoume-san…" said Taiyou.

Manjoume ignored Taiyou, gritting his teeth as he stared at Jaden.

"_Ever since he showed up, everything has gone haywire,"_ thought Manjoume._ "I've lost Professor Chronos's trust, and I've had my pride trampled upon!"_

Professor Chronos snickered.

"This is good," he said to himself. "This is oh-so-good. I would've expected no less from legendary duelists who've gone up against the King of Games-_na no ne_…"

Professor Chronos grinned.

"This will be _finé_, the end for those impudent dropout boys!" said Professor Chronos.

Professor Chronos laughed out loud, to which Samejima heard and chuckled. Professor Chronos froze and slowly turned his head to Samejima, who smiled.

"You never know the outcome of a duel until the end, Chronos-kun," said Samejima.

"Yes, I know, Samejima-san," said Professor Chronos. "But wouldn't it be in their best interests to expel them instead of prolonging their suffering any longer?"

Samejima grinned and pointed at someone behind Professor Chronos.

"Even though said duelist hasn't surrendered?" asked Samejima.

Professor Chronos turned, his expression perplexed. His gaze was focused on Jaden, whom was looking down, her eyes covered by her hair. Suddenly, she looked up and opened her eyes, surprising the blonde-haired professor.

"_Orange Pekoe!" _thought Professor Chronos.

Daitokuji watched Professor Chronos as he petted Pharaoh on the head.

"This is absolutely bonkers!" complained Professor Chronos. "Salted shrimp crackers!"

"My, my…what a grave predicament-nya," said Daitokuji.

Pharaoh meowed loudly in response.

"You think so too, Pharaoh-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Jaden stared at the Meikyuu Brothers with determination in her eyes. Both brothers noticed the look on her face.

"Hmph…by that look of yours, it seems you still don't plan on quitting, having come so far," said Mei.

"How stubborn…" Kyuu remarked.

Jaden smiled.

"As long as they have cards in their decks, duelists never give up until the very end!" said Jaden. "The King of Games would be the same, wouldn't he?"

The Meikyuu Brothers scowled at Jaden. Wing Kuriboh appeared by Jaden's side.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden looked at Kuriboh and smiled at him.

"You've got that right!" said Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh disappeared.

"But what about your partner?" asked Mei.

"He seems to have already lost his will to fight…" said Kyuu.

Jaden blinked and turned to Shou, who looked down.

"Shou!" said Jaden.

Shou jolted slightly and looked at Jaden. Jaden smiled at him reassuringly.

"We can still go on, can't we?" asked Jaden.

"Aniki…" said Shou.

Jaden turned to Gate Guardian, her smile never leaving her face.

"Besides, you have a card that can beat that Gate Guardian!" said Jaden.

Shou blinked.

"My turn!" Jaden said, reaching for her deck. "Draw!"

Jaden drew a card and switched it out with one in her hand.

"I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Sparkman appeared on the field, electricity crackling over his body.

ATK 1600

"Next, from my hand, I activate the Equip Magic, Spark Gun!" said Jaden. "And I equip it to Sparkman!"

A gun appeared in Sparkman's right hand.

"This card's effect changes the battle mode of one monster!" Jaden explained, pointing at Gate Guardian afterwards. "I switched Gate Guardian to defense mode!"

Sparkman pulled the trigger and shot an electrical blue energy blast at Gate Guardian. This caused Gate Guardian to switch from attack to defense mode.

DEF 3400

"What's the point in switching it to defense mode?" asked Daichi. "It's just going to go back into attack mode next turn."

"You may have put it in defense mode, but Gate Guardian's DEF is 3400," said Mei. "You two shouldn't be able to beat it."

"Furthermore, if you can't beat my Defense Wall, you cannot lay a finger on any other monster!" said Kyuu.

"I set one reversed card face-down," Jaden said, closing her eyes. "My turn's finished."

Kyuu stared at Jaden for a few moments before reaching for his deck.

"It's my turn," Kyuu said, drawing a card and looking at it. "I place one reversed card face-down to end my turn."

Kyuu looked at Mei.

"Elder brother, the rest is yours," said Kyuu.

Mei nodded.

"Just leave it to me," said Mei. "I'll end this the next turn around."

Shou looked down, anxiety in his eyes.

"_I knew I was no good…"_ Shou thought, looking over at Jaden. "Aniki."

Jaden turned to Shou and blinked.

"Why did you choose me as your partner, Aniki?" asked Shou. "I'm just dragging you down…And if Asuka-san was your partner, none of this would have happened…"

Jaden blinked and smiled at Shou.

"You like dueling, right?" asked Jaden.

Shou looked up at Jaden, perplexed.

"You enjoy yourself when you duel, and you treat all your cards with care," said Jaden. "It's that quality that makes me think you and I are alike."

* * *

~flashback~

_In the Osiris Red Dorms within one of the rooms,_

_Pharaoh walked out of a small doorway made for him on a support beam. He meowed and looked down at what lied below him. Dueling each other on one the floor with Hayato watching were Jaden and Shou._

"_All righty!" said Jaden. "How's this?"_

_Jaden flipped over a card, causing Shou to whine._

"_Aah!" said Shou. "It's a Trap Hole! Damn it all…"_

_Shou quickly recovered and grinned at Jaden._

"_But I'm not going to lose," he said, picking up a card. "I'll revive it with Call of the Living Dead!"_

_Jaden frowned._

"_Aw crap," said Jaden. "I wasted my Trap!"_

_Shou laughed._

~end of flashback~

* * *

"I managed to make it into this Duel Academy," said Jaden. "And I wanted to duel some more and have some more fun."

Jaden closed her eyes and smiled happily.

"And I want to duel you again, too!" she added.

"Aniki…" said Shou.

Jaden held her fist up.

"But beating these two comes first!" said Jaden. "We can beat them! Let's tear it up!"

Shou stared at Jaden, his eyes starting to shine with unshed tears. He looked away and blinked them away.

"_That's right…I decided I wouldn't run away anymore…"_ thought Shou. _"I did it for my Aniki, who picked me as her partner…"_

Shou turned and looked at Gate Guardian, the tears in his eyes replaced with newfound determination. Jaden's voice echoed in his head.

"_Besides, you have a card that can defeat Gate Guardian!"_ said Jaden's voice.

Shou blinked and looked at his deck.

* * *

~flashback~

_In the Osiris Red Dorms within a certain room,_

_Shou and Hayato were dueling each other while Jaden watched them. Jaden crawled closer to Shou and looked at his hand, blinking as she looked over them. Curled up on the support beam over the trio, was Pharaoh, who meowed loudly._

_Shou drew a card when Jaden spotted a certain card in his hand._

"_Oh?" said Jaden. "That's perfect!"_

_Shou turned to Jaden as she pointed at one of his cards._

"_I can use this in a combo with my Sparkman!" said Jaden._

_Jaden looked at Shou and closed her eyes as she smiled at him._

"_So, let me have it," she said._

_Shou stared at Jaden perplexed._

"_Huh?" exclaimed Shou. "N-No way! Even if you're my Aniki, no means no!"_

_Hayato and Pharaoh just stared at Shou and Jaden._

"_It's a special card!" said Shou._

_Jaden latched herself onto Shou's back, her head propped onto his shoulder._

"_But, Shou!" she protested._

_Hayato smirked._

"_It's gonna take assets for him to ever fall for that," remarked Hayato._

_Shou and Jaden stared at Hayato, both each reacting to his remark in differently. Shou blushed when he remembered what Hayato meant by 'assets'. Jaden glared at Hayato and stuck her tongue out at him._

"_Shut it, Koala-man!" Jaden snapped, turning over to Shou again with a smile. "C'mon, please?"_

_Shou blinked and shook his head._

"_No!" said Shou._

~end of chapter~

* * *

"_That's right,"_ thought Shou. _"As long as I have that card…"_

Shou reached for his deck.

"_Please, come to me!"_ Shou thought, his expression determined again. _"I want to be in this Academy with my Aniki and the others! There's still stuff I want to do!"_

Shou shut his eyes and clenched his teeth as he was about ready to draw. Memories of him and Jaden preparing their becks for the tag duel popped up in mind. One of them included him trying to wake up Jaden during class while Professor Chronos taught to the class (this was before they got suspended for that reason).

Shou's eyes wavered before he opened and drew his card.

"It's my turn!" he exclaimed. "Draw!"

Shou glanced at is card and looked at Jaden, smiling.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

Jaden smiled back at Shou.

"Yeah!" she said, closing her eyes and holding her fist up. "Go get 'em, Shou!"

Shou nodded.

"Mm-hm!" he said, playing a card. "I summon Drillroid in attack mode!"

A monster with drills for hands and giant drill for a nose and continuous tracks for legs popped out of the ground.

ATK 1600

"When this card attacks a monster in defense mode, it destroys that monster!" explained Shou.

The Meikyuu brothers gasped.

"All right!" Jaden said, hold her fist up.

"Go, Drillroid!" said Shou.

Drillroid charged towards Gate Guardian only for Defense Wall to intervene the attack.

"You are so naïve!" said Kyuu.

Drillroid drilled through Defense wall.

Jaden & Shou:

LP

1200

Manjoume snickered.

"Defense Wall may have been destroyed, but Damage Calculations will be applied," said Manjoume.

Both Meikyuu Brothers grinned.

"Such a shame," said Mei.

"Our cooperation is invincible!" said Kyuu. "The Gate Guardian cannot be beat!"

Jaden grinned and laughed.

"There's no monster that can't be beat, you know," said Jaden.

"What?" exclaimed the Meikyuu Brothers.

Jaden looked at Shou and nodded. Shou nodded back and looked at the Meikyuu Brothers.

"I knew that Defense Wall would receive the attack…" Shou explained, smirking as he added, "…but that wasn't what I was really after!"

The Meikyuu Brothers gasped as Shou played a card.

"From my hand, I activate a Magic card!" said Shou. "Shield Crash!"

Shou held his fist up as he explained.

"This card's effect destroys one monster on the field that's in defense mode!" explained Shou.

Jaden looked at Gate Guardian and smirked.

"And guess who's in defense mode!" said Jaden.

Shou nodded.

"I'm destroying…" Shou said, pointing at Gate Guardian. "Gate Guardian!"

Shield Crash shot out a green blast at Gate Guardian, destroying the monster. Mei and Kyuu shielded themselves from the aftermath of the attack. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of their faces.

"To think that our Gate Guardian…" said Mei.

"…was destroyed like that!" finished Kyuu.

Jaden grinned.

"Didn't I tell you?" she asked. "I said there's no monster that can't be destroyed!"

The crowd burst into cheers and applauds. Hayato was one of the many people who cheered on Shou and Jaden.

"They did it!" Hayato said as he clapped. "They did it!"

Ryou just stayed silent as Professor Chronos was astonished.

"This I cannot believe!" denied Professor Chronos. "My back has an itch I must relieve!"

Professor Chronos stared at Shou and Jaden, shocked.

"Those dropout boys defeated these legendary duelists' mightiest monster…?" Professor Chronos said perplexed as he looked at Samejima.

Samejima waved it off.

"It's nothing strange," said Samejima. "After all, they too are students of our Duel Academy."

Daitokuji agreed as he continued to pet Pharaoh on the head.

"Hmm…Marufuji-kun is doing rather well himself-nya," said Daitokuji. "Although, that stunt might have spelled trouble for them-nya."  
Pharaoh meowed loudly.

"Don't you think, Pharaoh?" asked Daitokuji.

Shou, after thinking about what Jaden said, blinked and looked at said gender-mistaken girl.

"What about Exodia?" asked Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou and pouted. The way she looked at the moment was, without a doubt adorable, to which half of the male population in the room's (including Manjoume) horror as that thought was resurrected. While said male population killed that thought for the second time (third time for Manjoume), Jaden stuck her tongue out at Shou.

"Let me have my moment!" complained Jaden. "So don't question me!"

Shou blinked and looked down sheepishly.

"Sorry, Aniki…" said Shou.

Jaden sighed and smiled.

"It's okay!" said Jaden.

Daichi and Asuka continued with their discussion, having seen the turn of events.

"Who would've thought they'd beat Gate Guardian?" asked Daichi.

"We figured they didn't refine their decks, but that might have been for the best," said Asuka.

Daichi looked questioningly at Asuka and said, "Huh?"

Asuka smiled and explained.

"They don't have tag team decks like the Meikyuu Brothers," she said. "But with the strong points of each other's decks in mind, they worked in the tandem perfectly."

Daichi looked back at the duel.

"Right," he said.

"I think it's all right for there to be tag teams like that," said Asuka.

Shou inhaled and looked up.

"I place a reversed card face-down and end my turn," Shou said, looking over at Jaden. "Aniki, I…"

Jaden gave Shou a thumbs-up.

"Just leave it to me, Shou," said Jaden.

Shou nodded.

"It seems we've let our guard down a bit," said Mei.

"We never would have thought they would defeat Gate Guardian," said Kyuu.

"However…" they both said.

Shou's breath hitched as he stared perplexedly at the Meikyuu Brothers.

"This is just the beginning of our invincible cooperation," said Mei. "It is my turn. Draw!"

Mei glanced at the card he drew.

"I activate a Magic card from my hand!" said Mei. "Dark Element! This card's effect activates when Gate Guardian is in the Graveyard!"

Shou gasped.

"By paying half our life points…" Mei explained, his and Kyuu's life points depleting from the Magic card's effect.

Meikyuu Brothers:

LP

3500

"…it special-summons the Guardian of Darkness-Dark Guardian from my deck!" Mei continued explaining.

Dark Guardian (A/N I can't describe this guy decently enough for crap if my life depended on it!) appeared on the field in attack mode.

ATK 3800

Daichi and Asuka gasped.

"An ATK of 3800?" exclaimed Daichi.

Ryou…still stoic (A/N And very Mori-like of him…yes, I'm referring to Mori from _Ouran High_).

Shou's eyes widened.

"No way!" Shou cried out.

"Go, Guardian of Darkness-Dark Guardian!" said Mei. "Attack Drillroid! Dark Shockwave!"

Dark Guardian swung his axe up, readying an attack. Daichi stood up in his seat, his eyes widened.

"This is no good!" said Daichi. "If this connects, Jaden and his friend will lose!"

Asuka stared wide-eyed at Jaden.

"Jaden…" she said.

Hayato gasped, Ryou was stoic (A/N Mori!), and Manjoume grinned…everyone in the room had either the same or different reactions. Dark Guardian swung his axe at Drillroid, sending a flaming blast at him.

"This is the end!" said Mei.

"Reverse card, open!" said Jaden. "Hero Barrier!"

Jaden smiled as she explained.

"This card activates when there's an 'Elemental Hero' monster on the field!" she explained, holding up her fist. "It negates one of my opponent's monster's attacks!"

Shou closed his eyes and shielded himself as a blue-colored energy field blocked off Dark Guardian's attack. The force of the attack was felt by everyone in the arena as they gasped in awe and shock.

Once the attack had disappeared, the Meikyuu Brothers smirked at Jaden and Shou.

"Blocking that attack…" said Mei.

"…was quite a feat!" finished Kyuu. "However, it will be your last!"

"And, to add to that, Dark Guardian is our invincible guardian that cannot be destroyed by way of battle," added Mei.

"So long as our omnipotent Dark Guardian remains, you two have no chance of winning this time!" said Kyuu.

Shou fell onto his knees despondently.

"_No way…"_ thought Shou. _"Because I destroyed their Gate Guardian, they called out an even stronger monster."_

Professor Chronos snickered.

"This is the difference between their skills!" said Professor Chronos. "They can struggle all they wish, for it's mere futile resistance!"

Samejima stared at the duel in deep thought.

"This is quite the situation," said Samejima.

Shou stared down, his eyes closed as he clenched his teeth.

"Shou…" said Jaden. "Stand up Shou…now."

Shou opened his eyes and looked at Jaden.

"Aniki…" said Shou.

Jaden stared at the Meikyuu brothers, determination in her eyes.

"We're gonna win," stated Jaden. "No matter what happens. You don't get up…I'll take your glasses away."

Shou frowned and got up the ground hesitantly.

"Oh?" said Mei. "You're still going to fight, are you?"

"I admit that their spirit is commendable," said Kyuu.

"My turn is now finished," said Mei.

Jaden reached for a card in her deck.

"My turn," said Jaden. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card and held it up.

"I activate the Magic card, Pot of Greed!" said Jaden. "I'll draw two cards, and then activate the Field Magic, Fusion Gate!"

Jaden placed the card in the slot, activating the Field Magic.

"As long as this card's on the field, you can fusion-summon without using Polymerization," explained Jaden. "I'll fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Bubbleman who are in my hand…with Sparkman on the field…"

Avian, Bubbleman, and Sparkman all leaped into the air and glowed as Fusion Gate took effect, merging the three Elemental Heroes together.

"Come out, Elemental Hero Tempester!" Jaden exclaimed, punching her fist forward.

Elemental Hero Tempester, a monster with body-armor like Sparkman, physiology of Avian, and weapons from Bubbleman appeared on Jaden's side of the field.

ATK 2800

Daichi gasped.

"He's reached this point, but Jaden's still not giving in!" said Daichi.

Asuka rolled her eyes.

"The day Jaden gives up easily will be the day he wears a dress…" said Asuka.

Daichi stared at Asuka perplexed, to whom she just waved it off.

"You'll find out soon enough," said Asuka. "But…even so, he can't beat Gate Guardian."

Asuka stared at Jaden anxiously.

"_Jaden…what are you going to do?"_ she thought.

The Meikyuu Brothers stared at Elemental Hero Tempester.

"A triple Fusion Summon?" said Mei. "But, still…"

"Dark Guardian's ATK is 3800," Kyuu pointed out. "And it cannot be destroyed by way of battle."

Mei looked at Kyuu.

"And yet, what could he be planning?" asked Mei.

Jaden stared at the Meikyuu Brothers seriously.

"I'm planning on _this_!" Jaden said as she held up a card. "I activate the Field Magic, Skyscraper!"

The field around Jaden glowed before large buildings popped out of the ground.

"The effect raises an 'Elemental Hero' monster's ATK…if its ATK is lower than that of the monster it's attacking!" explained Jaden.

Tempester's ATK went up 1000 points.

ATK: Previously, 2800

Now…3800!

"What?" exclaimed the Meikyuu Brothers.

"Chaos Tempest!" shouted Jaden.

Tempester flew up and charged down at Dark Guardian, punching it straight in the chest.

"They may both have an equal 3800 ATK, but…we told you Dark Guardian cannot be destroyed in battle!" said Mei.

Kyuu held up his fist.

"Your effort was wasted!" said Kyuu.

Jaden turned to Shou, who was shielding himself from the wind created by Tempester's attack.

"Shou, I'm taking your card," said Jaden.

Shou turned to Jaden and blinked.

"Huh?" he said.

Jaden held up her hand as the card on Shou's field glowed.

"Tempester's special effect activates!" Jaden said, smiling and holding up her fist. "By sending a card on the field to the Graveyard, this card won't be destroyed in battle!"

Tempester backed away from Dark Guardian unharmed.

"That was a totally ineffective attack…" Manjoume said, smirking.

Daichi and Asuka gasped.

"Jaden, what are you thinking?" asked Asuka.

Ryou stared at the duel, finally speaking out loud for once.

"Shou, will you answer him back?" asked Ryou.

Shou blinked and looked at Jaden.

"Aniki?" said Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou and closed her eyes as she grinned at him.

"Did you pay close attention there, Shou?" she asked.

Shou nodded.

"Mm-hmm," said Shou.

Jaden nodded and opened her eyes.

"Okay, then!" said Jaden. "I end my turn."

"It's my turn!" said Kyuu. "Draw! Trap card, activate! Single Combat!"

The card on Kyuu's side of the field turned over as he explained the Trap's effect.

"During this turn, each player will do battle with their highest-ATK monster!" explained Kyuu. "With Dark Guardian, I attack Tempester!"

Jaden clenched her teeth as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. Dark Guardian readied himself for an attack on Tempester.

"Again?" asked Shou. "But no matter how much you try, the end result'll be the same, won't it?"

"Is that so?" said Kyuu.

"Huh?" said Shou.

"Jaden doesn't have any cards on his field he can send to the Graveyard to activate Tempester's special effect," said Asuka.

Daichi stared at the field.

"In order to prevent its destruction…" said Daichi.

Jaden stared at Tempester and Dark Guardian, having come to a conclusion.

"To keep Tempester from being destroyed, I'll send Skyscraper to the Graveyard!" said Jaden.

Skyscraper's card popped out of the Field Magic slot. Shou stared around him as the buildings began to disappear.

"Even if it can't be destroyed now, the damage will run its course!" yelled Kyuu.

Shou and Jaden braced themselves as the attack from Dark Guardian passed through Tempester and hit them.

Jaden & Shou:

LP

200

"I end my turn," said Kyuu.

Both Meikyuu Brothers grinned at Shou and Jaden.

"We applaud you for making it this far," said Mei.

"But now comes your end," said Kyuu.

Jaden looked at Shou and smiled as she held up her fist.

"Keep what just happened in mind," said Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden.

"Aniki…" said Shou. _"Aniki's trying to tell me something…Could it be…?"_

Jaden closed her eyes and said, "I'm counting on you, Shou!"

Shou nodded.

"Aniki…" he said, reaching for his deck. _"That's right…I have to do this now!"_

Everyone anticipated as Shou hesitated to draw from his deck. Jaden looked at him calmly as he looked up at Ryou.

"_Onii-san…"_ thought Shou.

* * *

~flashback~

_Shou stood in back of Ryou, whom had his arms crossed._

"_I'm…taking the Duel Academy's exam," said Shou. "I want to be a duelist, too!"_

_Ryou looked back at Shou._

"_If that's what you wish, I won't stop you," Ryou said, turning around. "The path of a duelist must be made using one's own strength. Are you prepared to do that?"_

_Shou looked up at Ryou, determination in his eyes. Ryou nodded and turned around before walking away._

~end of flashback~

* * *

"I really think so now," thought Shou. _"I want to be a duelist just like my Onii-san in this Academy!"_

Shou grabbed the first card on top of his deck.

"_So, to make that first step, let my card come!"_ Shou thought, opening his eyes. "It's my turn! Draw!"

Shou drew a card and looked at it. It was Power Bond.

"I offer Drillroid as a sacrifice to summon UFOroid!" said Shou.

Drillroid disappeared and was replaced with a cartoony UFO-like monster.

ATK 1200

"And then, from my hand, I activate a Magic card!" Shou said, holding up the card he finished drawing. "Power Bond!"

Jaden smiled and nodded.

"This card is a Fusion Magic for Machine-types!" said Shou. "Aniki! Here we go!"

"Yeah, go with all you've got!" said Jaden.

Shou pumped his fist into the air.

"It'll fuse together UFOroid and Tempester!" said Shou. "Come forth! UFOroid Fighter!"

Power Bond shot out a blue energy beam at UFOroid and Tempester, combining them together to form UFOroid Fighter.

A/N Basically, just Tempester on a UFO-like scooter…lucky bastard! I want one!

"Its ATK is the total ATK of its two Fusion-Material monsters!" explained Shou.

ATK 4000

"What good is it now?" asked Mei. "Its ATK may be higher by a small fraction, but…"

"…Dark Guardian can't be destroyed by battle!" finished Kyuu.

Shou grinned.

"That I know!" said Shou. "Next, Power Bond's effect activates! It doubles the ATK of the special-summoned Fusion Monster!"

UFOroid Fighter's attack was doubled.

ATK: Previously, 4000

Now…8000!

The Meikyuu Brothers stared agape at UFOroid Fighter's ATK.

"8000?" they both exclaimed.

A/N That's almost over 9000! Yeah…That's joke's kinda old, but whatever!

Shou looked at Jaden and smiled.

"Aniki made me realize through example," said Shou. "Even if a monster can't be destroyed, the damage will pass right through! Fortune Tempest!"

UFOroid Fighter aimed his gun at Dark Guardian, shooting a forceful blast of blue energy. The blast went right through Dark Guardian…and hit the Meikyuu Brothers.

Meikyuu Brothers:

LP

0

Dark Guardian disappeared as both Meikyuu Brothers fell onto their knees despondently. Hayato grinned widely.

"They did it!" shouted Hayato.

Daichi and Asuka were both relieved.

"Thank goodness," said Daichi. "Now, those two can remain at the Academy."

Asuka turned to Daichi and unclasped her hands.

"Even though he'll turn into a tough rival, you're still happy?" asked Asuka.

Daichi turned to Asuka.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I would just feel guilty of they got expelled because of me," answered Asuka. "But I'm glad now."

Manjoume scowled and gritted his teeth as a vein popped out on his forehead. He stood up from his seat and started to make his way out. Taiyou stood up and called out to him.

"Manjoume-san!" said Taiyou.

Professor Chronos stared at Shou and Jaden, shocked as a vein popped out on his forehead.

"This can't be!" said Professor Chronos. "For legendary duelists to lose…"

Professor Chronos jumped back and fell onto the ground rear-first. Daitokuji walked up to Professor Chronos with Pharaoh in his arms. Daitokuji leaned down to Professor Chronos's level.

"Well, my students are quite impressive, aren't they?" asked Daitokuji. "They were amazing-nya."

Pharaoh pushed himself up from Daitokuji's arms and licked Professor Chronos on the cheek. Professor Chronos diverted his eyes to Pharaoh. The blonde-haired professor's eyes widened at the sight of the tabby cat.

"Gah!" yelled Professor Chronos. "A cat! It's a cat!"

Shou and Jaden stared at Professor Chronos as he freaked out.

"On cats I'm not too keen, no!" said Professor Chronos. "Cappuccino!"

Jaden turned to Shou and held up her fist.

"Well, we did it, Shou!" said Jaden. "All thanks to you!"

Shou looked down.

"A-Aniki…I…I…" Shou said, turning away from Jaden as he burst into tears.

As Shou wiped off his tears, Jaden caught him by surprise by placing her arm around his shoulder and pulling him closer to herself. She looked at Samejima with a grin.

"We won," said Jaden. "Fair enough, agreed?"

Professor Chronos gripped Samejima's shoulder as he was shocked. Samejima smiled and nodded.

"You have shown us a fine duel," said Samejima. "Naturally, your expulsions will be dropped."

Jaden pumped her fist into the air as she half-hugged Shou tightly.

"Awright!" she exclaimed, blinking and releasing Shou as she looked over at the Meikyuu Brothers. "Oh, almost forgot."

Jaden winked and pointed two fingers at the Meikyuu Brothers as she grinned.

"Gotcha!" said Jaden. "That sure was a fun duel! Let's do it again, huh?"

"Hmm…if you have that much energy left, allow me to give you some homework," said Samejima.

Jaden's eyes widened as she sweat dropped, a vein popping out on her forehead. Samejima grinned.

"Your expulsions have been dropped this time, but your penalty for entering a restricted area will be different," explained Samejima.

"Right, right, right….different, different…" muttered Professor Chronos.

"You will turn in a thirty-page report on dueling strategies," said Samejima.

Jaden and Shou stared at Samejima, shocked.

"Can you do that?" asked Jaden.

"Keep a stiff upper lip!" said Samejima. "I'll leave you to oversee things, Daitokuji-kun."

Samejima walked away as Daitokuji nodded.

"Yes, sir," said Daitokuji. "Leave it to me-nya!"

Pharaoh meowed loudly as Jaden placed her hands on her head. She groaned loudly as she fell onto her knees despondently.

"No way!" wailed Jaden. "A thirty-page report is torture!"

Shou looked away from Jaden and up at his older brother, Ryou.

"_Onii-san…I feel I've made a little progress forward…"_ Shou thought, looking at Power Bond afterwards. _"Just you wait. I'm positive I'll catch up to you!"_

Ryou stared at Shou.

"_I'm sure we'll do battle one of these days,"_ Ryou thought, giving Shou a small smile before turning and walking away.

Jaden stood up from the ground with a serious expression. Shou stared at her in wonder.

"Okay, let's get back to the dorm," said Jaden. "We're pulling an all-nighter…"

Jaden was about to walk away when Shou exclaimed, "An all-nighter?"

Jaden stared at Shou pleadingly.

"But c'mon!" said Jaden. "Why's this always…ha!"

Jaden snatched Shou's glasses off his face and distanced herself from him. Shou blinked and felt his face for his glasses, when he felt none, he exclaimed and charged after Jaden. Jaden dodged Shou, whose blurry vision gave him less time to react and caused him to fall down. Shou looked up at Jaden.

"Aniki!" complained Shou.

Jaden stuck her tongue out at Shou.

"You want your glasses back…you're coming with me!" said Jaden. "And we're pulling that all-nighter, okay?"

Shou got up from the ground and sighed as he held his hand out.

"Fine…" sighed Shou.

Jaden smiled and placed Shou's glasses on for him. Shou blinked and adjusted his glasses for one hand as Jaden sighed.

"Man…after we won that duel…what a joke…" muttered Jaden.

Jaden started to walk away, to which Shou trailed after. Daichi and Asuka stared at the duo with amusement.

"This is so…what's it called?" asked Jaden. "You know, uh…O-Oh, yeah! So _unreasonable_, you know!"

Hayato ran down the stair and met up with his roommates. Shou and Hayato pushed Jaden back and forth to the other as the crowd applauded. Pharaoh meowed loudly as Daitokuji chuckled, Asuka and Daichi clapped, and Jaden recovered as she did pointed two fingers and smiled.

"Yay!" said Jaden.

* * *

A/N End of chapter. It's 1 AM, almost 2 AM...scratch that, its is. I'm in deep shit if my mom finds out I'm awake, so I would rather not want ANY flames at fricken' all! You know the drill!

(1) I was so tempted to type down toolshed…I've been watching DarkSideIncorporated's _Yu-Gi-Oh GX Abridged Series_, so can you blame me? It's also because of them that I couldn't take this episode seriously. Half the time, I expected the Meikyuu Brothers to fail at rhyming before getting it together, only to be owned by Shou's rapping skills…yeah…

(2) Reference to WHY I might've updated this chapter late. Pokémon…I'm a fanatic and used to be owner of four Pokémon games, now two due to some jerk jacking my DS and stuff. I have a new DS and Platinum as well as Soul Silver game. I also have all spin-off games minus Shadows of Almia (stolen as well) and Blue Rescue team. Anyways…Red is the ULTIMATE Trainer! Well, in my opinion, so don't argue with me! He DOES have an 88-level Pikachu as well as other Pokémon in the 80's range.

As for Hayato referring Jaden as Yellow…Yellow is a character in the _Pokémon Adventures_ manga series. She is a girl…who dresses up as a boy and even at age 14, she can still pass for a boy. You see my reference? Confused? Go to Serebii, dammit or the bulbapedia! I'm tired right now!

That's about it, I gotta get some sleep so please excuse any mistakes I made!


	9. Turn 09

Chapter Nine

When Misawa Hung Out With Them

A few days after the Tag Duel, everything was back to the way it was…more or less. Construction on Jaden's room was up again, Manjoume still hated Jaden's guts, and Jaden still tried to beat Red the Ultimate Trainer (A/N Yes, still the 'if this was late' reference) and his Level-88 Pikachu.

Today was a normal day, classes have gone by like usual and at the current moment, it was gym class. And for today's activity…Baseball! It was a team from Osiris Red vs. a team from Ra Yellow, the bases were loaded and Jaden was up to bat. Reason to Jaden being with the guys in the first place for gym class was the fact that she was still an Osiris Red and that counted her in many of her dorm's gym activities (it was also by request due to not wanting to leave Shou).

A/N Jaden is such a good Aniki…er, Aneki, but I digress!

"Send it flying, Jaden!" cheered Jaden's team.

Shou was with the team, currently anticipating Jaden's batting.

"Aniki, we're counting on you!" said Shou.

Jaden adjusted her helmet and gripped the bat as she smiled.

"All right, just leave it to me!" said Jaden. "If I fire another one out there…add one…two…three runs, and I'll have this all settled!"

Surprisingly, everyone but Shou still thought Jaden was a boy…even when she was wearing the different uniform at this current moment. This made the gender-mistaken girl wonder if every guy was _this_ dense. Shou would wonder that, too, but then he remembered that Jaden had _very_ few feminine quirks and _rarely_ showed them in front of people, so he wouldn't blame the guys…hell, he sometimes forgot Jaden was a girl himself!

Aside from that, running down the hall into the baseball field in a complete rush was Ra Yellow Daichi Misawa, having been late for gym today. Daichi held out his hand as he called out to everyone.

"Hey, wait!" shouted Daichi. "Hold the game!"

Everyone turned to Daichi as he ran towards his team in the dugout.

"Sorry I'm late," said Daichi. "I got wrapped up in constructing my deck."

"Can you pitch?" asked one of his teammates (to be specific, the captain).

Daichi nodded and said, "Sure can."

"Okay, you're on it, then," said the team captain.

Another of Daichi's teammates turned to the baseball diamond and waved at their team.

"Pitcher change!" one of Daichi's teammates called out. "Misawa's pitching!"

Daichi walked toward the pitcher on the field. Jaden pointed her bat at Daichi.

"So, you finally show up, Misawa," said Jaden. "I didn't think you'd come because of what happened yesterday!"

Daichi tried to ignore Jaden as memories of what happened yesterday popped up.

* * *

~flashback chapter!~

_After finding out that Jaden had Asuka's number, Daichi pondered on why someone like Jaden would have an Obelisk Blue like Asuka's number. After walking around, sulking somewhat, Daichi spotted Jaden sitting next to Shou under a tree on campus. Jaden and Shou were laughing at something they were conversing about. Whatever it was, Daichi didn't care as he ran towards them, all he wanted to know was how Jaden got Asuka's number (and get her number as well)._

A/N This is SO from chapter 5 of the manga with stuff I added in. My favorite chapter so far…I haven't gotten that far along in the _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_ manga.

"_Jaden!" yelled Daichi._

_Jaden and Shou stopped laughing and turned to see who had called out the gender-mistaken girl's name. They spotted Daichi running towards them at an incredible speed and Jaden couldn't help but wonder, why?_

"_Huh?" said Jaden._

_Daichi stopped in front of Jaden, panting as he tried to catch his breath. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she stared at Daichi, who was currently hunched over with his hands on his knees._

"_Y…Yo, Misawa…" said Jaden. "What's up?"_

_Daichi inhaled deeply and looked up at Jaden. He waved at her._

"_G'day, Jaden," said Daichi. "There's something I need to ask you."_

_Few moments later…_

"_Huh?" said Jaden. "Me calling Asuka…Oh yeah, I did."_

_Daichi, now standing up straight with one hand on his hip, stared at Jaden perplexed._

"…_W-Why do you know Asuka's number?" asked Daichi._

_Jaden closed her eyes and smiled widely as she held up her finger._

"_She has _all kinds_ of dueling materials and stuff I borrow often!" Jaden answered in a cheery tone. "But when I kept borrowing her card catalog when she needed it to, she had _no way_ to get in contact with me."_

_Shou nodded._

"_She even came to the Red dorms looking for you, Aniki," added Shou._

_Jaden opened her eyes and looked at Daichi._

"_So, to keep in contact, we swapped numbers," explained Jaden. "It was all Shou's idea."_

_Daichi looked at Shou, who nodded as Jaden ruffled his hair._

"_Thanks to you, we don't have to put up with the guys at the dorms asking questions!" said Jaden._

_Shou laughed._

"_Aniki!" said Shou._

_Daichi looked at Jaden, his expression miffed as he clenched his teeth._

"_L-Lucky dog_,"_ thought Daichi. _"Thanks to his_ insensitive _personality…h-he got Asuka's_ number_!"

_Jaden looked at Daichi questioningly._

"_But _what about_ Asuka's number?" asked Jaden._

_Daichi blinked and blushed slightly as he looked nervously at Jaden._

"_Er…well…" stammered Daichi._

_Just then, Jaden's PDA began to ring, much to Daichi's relief…for the moment._

"Saved by the bell!"_ thought Daichi. "Uh, hey your PDA's ringing."_

_Jaden blinked and lifted up her shirt slightly to take her PDA out of its pouch on her hip. She looked at it and saw she got a message…and from the person they were just talking about._

"_Ah, speak of the devil!" said Jaden. "It's _mail_ from Asuka!"_

"_What great timing," remarked Shou._

_Daichi clenched his teeth tightly as he tried to keep himself from yelling out in shock while Jaden read the message._

"_WHAAAT_?" _thought Daichi._ "M-M-M-Ma-_Mail_! He even got her mail address! Now I'm getting even_ more _jealous of him!"

_After reading the message from Asuka, Jaden groaned._

"_Damn it!" said Jaden. "She already _loaned_ it out!"_

_Shou frowned._

"_Aww…I wanted to see _**Battle City**_!" whined Shou._

_Daichi blinked and immediately calmed down from his shock and anger. He stared at Jaden and Shou, somewhat perplexed._

"_If you wanted the _**Battle City**_ DVD, I have it," said Daichi. "I also have the _**Pegasus' Island**_ DVD as well."_

_The mere mention of the _**Battle City**_ had both Jaden and Shou surprised, but hearing _**Pegasus' Island** _as well had both of them shocked. Jaden and Shou stared wide-eyed at Daichi as they yelled out in shock in their minds._

"Wha?" _thought Shou._ "He even has the _uber rare_ and _legendary_ **Pegasus' Island**!"

"_I-I wanna see it!"_ thought Jaden.

_Jaden and Shou stood up from their seats and dashed up to Daichi's side._

"_L-Lemme borrow it!" Jaden said, practically yelling. "Please!"_

_Daichi blinked and nodded._

"_Oh, sure…but…" Daichi said, crossing his arms. "You have to beat I, Daichi Misawa, in a duel! That's the _stipulation_!"_

_Both Jaden and Shou complained._

"_Aww!" whined Shou. "Don't be so stingy, let us borrow it!"_

_Jaden held up her fist in the air._

"_Unfair, I say!" said Jaden._

_Daichi sweat dropped._

"_This is Duel Academy, _everything_ should be dealt with by dueling," Daichi said simply._

A/N This is Japan, Jaden. In this country, card games are the only law. XD You gotta love LittleKuriboh's _Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series_!

_Jaden latched herself around Daichi's waist and looked up at him._

"_C'mon, Misawa!" said Jaden. "Please!"_

_Daichi stared at Jaden as she looked at him with big, chocolate brown eyes. As much as Daichi would hate to admit it, Jaden looked adorable, but even so…_

"_Sorry, I've made up my mind," Daichi said, pushing Jaden off of himself._

_Jaden crossed her arms and looked away, pouting._

"_Jerk…" she muttered._

_Daichi smirked at Jaden._

"_Or are you saying you don't have the guts to beat me in a duel?" asked Daichi._

_Jaden turned to Daichi and blinked. With her pride backed up by her stubbornness, it was only natural for her to say…_

"_I don't run away from a duel no matter _who_ I'm facin'!" Jaden snapped as she held up her fist. "_Of course_ I'll do it!"_

_Shou diverted his eyes to the side and mushroom sighed._

"So like that of Aniki…"_ thought Shou._

_Jaden blinked owlishly and lower her fist._

"…_But, uh, what happens of you win?" she asked Daichi. "There's gotta be a catch for you, right?"_

_Daichi looked nervously at Jaden._

"_O-Of course there is…!" said Daichi. "If I win!"_

_Jaden nodded._

"_Go on…" said Jaden._

_Daichi cleared his throat._

"_You'll give up…" Daichi exclaimed and practically whispered, "Asuka's number!"_

_Jaden and Shou held their hand by their ear as they heard what Daichi said, but faintly. They stared at him perplexed._

"'_Scuse me?" they both said. "_What _do you wanna know?"_

_Daichi was taken aback and stared anxiously at the Osiris Reds standing in front of him._

"_G-Grk…" Daichi stammered as he tried to find a way to explain without making this any more awkward. "…You see, it's because…"_

_One awkward (for Daichi) explanation later…_

"_And that's it…" finished Daichi._

_Jaden and Shou stared at Daichi for a few moments before bursting into laughter. Daichi looked anxiously at them as they laughed loudly. Shou and Jaden were laughing so hard, that they were to tears._

"_HA HA HA HA!" laughed Shou and Jaden. "So you just wanted to know Asuka's number!"_

_Daichi clenched his teeth and grabbed Shou and Jaden around the neck. He pulled them closer to himself as he looked around anxiously at the people on campus. He then scowled at Jaden and Shou as they continued to laugh._

"_Stop laughing so hard!" snapped Daichi. "People can _hear_ you!"_

_Daichi began to drag-er, rather sort of carried Shou and Jaden away with him (Remember, Daichi is taller than Shou and Jaden!)._

"_We have to get _somewhere_ else!" said Daichi._ _"We have to play at a place without _any_ people!"_

_Daichi scowled at Jaden and Shou again, who were still laughing._

"_Stop laughing!" snapped Daichi._

_To make a long story (and duel short), Jaden won the duel…naturally. Daichi couldn't help but compliment Jaden on her draws while Shou just cheered on his Aniki. Asuka, having arrived to just to drop off a DVD at the Osiris Red dorms, had come upon the duel between Jaden and Daichi when she couldn't find Jaden. Daichi and Jaden had dueled behind the Osiris Red dorms, which is how Asuka approached and became a witness to the duel alongside Shou. After hearing something about a DVD, Asuka held up the _**Battle City**_ DVD case with the disk inside of it._

"_That's what you were dueling for?" asked Asuka. "I brought the DVD for you!"_

_Jaden rubbed the back of her head and smiled at Asuka._

"_But Misawa has the _**Pegasus' Island**_ DVD!" said Jaden._

_Asuka's eyes widened and she looked at Daichi with a smile._

"_Oh, wow!" she said._ _"_**Pegasus' Island**_! For real? I want to watch it too!"_

_Daichi looked at Asuka and smiled, his cheeks tinged with a small blush._

"_Sure!" said Daichi. "I'll be glad to let you borrow it!"_

_Jaden crossed her arms and diverted her eyes up at the sky._

"_And while you're at it, you guys could swap numbers to keep in touch easier, of course," Jaden said innocently._

_Asuka blinked and took out her PDA._

"_Oh!" said Asuka. "Right! Is it okay with you, Misawa-kun?"_

_Daichi blinked and rubbed the back of his head as he smiled nervously. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he blushed slightly._

"_Err…S-Sure!" he said. "Of course!"_

_Daichi looked over at Jaden after giving Asuka his number. Jaden stood next to Shou, whistling as she tried to look innocent…which she did. Shou grinned at Daichi._

"Jaden…" _Daichi thought as he smiled at Jaden._ "Thank you…"

_After swapping numbers, Daichi started to walk away but stopped and looked at Asuka._

"_Well, I need to stop by the dorms to pick up the DVD," said Daichi. "Want to go to the dorms, too, Asuka?"_

_Asuka shrugged._

"_Why not?" said Asuka. "It's faster that way."_

_Jaden and Shou stared agape at Asuka and Daichi._

"_Huh?" said the Osiris Red duo._

_Jaden held out her hand as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face._

"_H-Hey…wait a sec!" exclaimed Jaden. "You were gonna do it my way just a moment ago!"_

_Daichi looked back at Jaden and smiled as he waved at her._

"_Sorry there, Jaden," said Daichi. "It's _ladies_ first…"_

_Jaden tightened her fists as she glared at Daichi._

"_Don't you mean seniority?" asked Jaden._

_Daichi nodded._

"_That too," said Daichi._

_Jaden cursed mentally._

"Damn…" _thought Jaden._

_Asuka handed Jaden over the _**Battle City** DVD_ and winked at her._

"_Sorry, Jaden," said Asuka. "You can watch this instead."_

_Jaden blinked and stared at the DVD as Asuka started to walk away with Daichi. After a few moments, Jaden looked up shook her fist at Asuka and Daichi._

"_Don't give me that talk!" snapped Jaden. "What do ya think I dueled ya for? I ain't leavin' till ya gimme what I want!"_

_Daichi blinked and looked at Asuka as they made their way towards the Ra Yellow dorms._

"_Jaden is rather…interesting," said Daichi._

_Asuka smiled and giggled quietly._

"_You can say that…so, have you found out yet?" asked Asuka._

_Daichi looked at Asuka perplexed._

"_I'll take that as a no," said Asuka. "So…how did you manage to get the _**Pegasus' Island** DVD_?"_

_As Jaden yelled at Asuka and Daichi, Shou sweat dropped and shook his head._

"_I knew it," said Shou. "Asuka-san _is_ a siren…somewhat."_

_Hayato, having been asked by Asuka about Jaden's whereabouts, had followed Asuka and ended up watching the whole duel, albeit from a distance. Hayato walked up to Shou and smirked as he watched Jaden throw a fit of some sort._

"_I told ya it took assets!" said Hayato._

_Jaden stopped what she was doing and looked back. The second she spotted Hayato, she started glaring daggers at him._

"_Shut it, Koala-man!" snapped Jaden._

_Hayato just laughed as he patted Shou on the shoulder, whose face was red at what Hayato implied by 'assets'._

~end of flashback~

* * *

Up to now, Daichi had wondered what Hayato had meant by 'assets'. Even so, he discarded that thought as he prepared to pitch the ball to Jaden.

"But still, I'm gonna drive your pitch all the way there!" Jaden said, using the bat to direct where she was going to the ball too.

Daichi stood up straight and shook his head.

"No, you won't be hitting any of my pitches," stated Daichi.

Jaden gripped the bat and positioned herself to swing. Imaginary flames emanated from Daichi as he positioned himself to pitch.

"After all, I've already calculated how you're going to hit," explained Daichi.

Jaden grinned as she gripped the bat with both of her hands tightly.

"We'll see about that…" said Jaden.

"Here it goes!" Daichi exclaimed as he pitched to Jaden the first ball. "Equation Version One!"

Daichi threw the ball at Jaden at an incredible speed, making it seem like he had pitched four balls to the gender-mistaken girl. An imaginary silhouette of a tiger roared loudly as Jaden swung the bat to hit the ball…

"Strike!" said the umpire.

Jaden cursed mentally and positioned herself as Daichi pitched another ball at her. She swung the bat and missed the ball again.

"Strike two!" said the umpire.

By the third pitch from Daichi, Jaden was angry. She was so angry, when she swung the bat, she swung it rather hard. She ended up spinning around a few times from before losing her balance and falling onto the dirt rear-first. Jaden growled as her helmet covered her eyes while she rubbed her backside.

"Strike!" said the umpire.

Hearing the umpire call out the third strike annoyed Jaden. She just struck out…and the bases were loaded!

"Aw, c'mon!" whined Jaden.

Daichi couldn't help but laugh at how amusing it was to see Jaden at her current state. Jaden took off her helmet and got off the ground. She glared at Daichi, a plan in mind popped up when she remembered she was pitching next. Grinning, Jaden walked over to Daichi as he took off his glove.

A few moments later after two outs,

Ra Yellow was up to bat while Osiris Red had took their positions on the bases and outfield. Jaden brushed her hair out of her eye and threw the ball at the batter. The batter didn't swing the bat due to Jaden throwing the ball too low as a result, it was a ball.

Shou stared at Jaden perplexed as he caught every ball she pitched, having been the catcher. Every pitch Jaden was called a ball and as a result, three batters took their bases. Shou took off his catcher's mask and ran up to Jaden.

"Time out!" said Shou.

Jaden blinked as Shou and the rest of her teammates walked up to her.

"Hey, Aniki, what are you doing?" asked Shou. "You have two outs, but you've walked three for no good reason!"

Jaden laughed and smiled.

"I let them walk on purpose," said Jaden.

Shou and his teammates stared wide-eyed at Jaden.

"Huh?" they said.

"Why?" asked Shou.

Jaden smiled.

"If I didn't, we wouldn't get to Misawa," Jaden said as if that was the obvious answer.

Shou's eyes widened.

"Huh?" exclaimed Shou. "Aniki, you let three people walk just because you wanted to challenge Misawa?"

"Sure did," Jaden said simply. "I gotta get my payback from him, after all!"

Jaden scowled as she spotted Daichi walking towards home plate to bat. She held up her fists as she glared at Daichi.

"Misawa, this time, I'm striking you out!" said Jaden.

Shou sighed and shook his head as he walked back to his position.

"_Aniki must still be mad at Misawa for yesterday…"_ Shou thought as he placed on his catcher's mask.

Daichi smirked and placed on his helmet.

"You can't do that, either," Daichi said as gripped the bat. "My equation to batter you is already complete."

Daichi stepped aside to let Shou walk to his position.

"And in accordance to that formula, I'm going to batter you, plain and simple," Daichi said, positioning himself to bat before looking at Jaden. "And then, once you're beaten, you will be under my thumb!"

Jaden looked at Daichi with fire in her eyes as she readied a pitch.

"Let's do this!" yelled Jaden.

Daichi grinned at Jaden.

"Bring it, Ichiban-kun!" said Daichi.

Both Daichi and Jaden were on fire…literally in an imaginative way as a silhouette of a tiger appeared in the background on Daichi's side was about to pounce on the silhouette of a Chinese dragon in the background on Jaden's side. The silhouettes disappeared as Jaden positioned herself to pitch, fire burning fiercely in her eyes as flames emanated from her.

"Here it is, Number Two!" Jaden yelled, swinging her arm back. "Take this! I'm a Hero!"

Jaden threw the ball with intense force and as a result, almost fell down. As the ball headed for Daichi, a silhouette of a green-colored Chinese dragon appeared by the ball as it soared and roared (A/N Crap, I just rhymed unintentionally…I blame the Paradox Brothers!)

Meanwhile,

Walking nearby the baseball arena was Professor Chronos. He was too busy grumbling to hear Daichi's hit and the cheers from the Ra Yellow's team.

"For heaven's sake, that Manjoume is of no use at all-_no ne_," grumbled Professor Chronos. "I must hurry and replace him with someon—"

Professor Chronos was cut off as a ball hit him right in the eye and sent him flying back into the sports equipment. A few moments later, Jaden and Shou ran up to Professor Chronos.

"Hey, sorry about that!" said Jaden.

Jaden and Shou stopped as Professor Chronos popped out of the equipment. Their eyes widened as they saw Professor Chronos glare at them with daggers as the ball that hit him covered his left eye.

"Not you again!" yelled Professor Chronos. "The dropout boy-_na no ne_!"

Both Jaden and Shou fell onto their knees as Professor Chronos tightened his fists, practically shaking with rage.

"Aah!" said Shou. "We're sorry!"

"A-Are you all right, Professor?" asked Jaden.

Daichi ran up towards Jaden, Shou, and Professor Chronos, having heard the commotion.

"I'm sorry!" shouted Daichi. "I was the one who hit it."

Professor Chronos calmed down and looked away from the Osiris Red duo. Daichi stood behind said duo, trying to catch his breath.

"Signore Misawa…" said Professor Chronos.

Professor Chronos recovered quickly and stood up, his back turned to the three students. He had his hands clasped together as he smiled.

"Signore Misawa is known as the top academic student-_na no ne_," Professor Chronos said to himself. "I could probably use him as Manjoume's replacement…"

Daichi looked down sheepishly.

"Um…will I be footing your doctor's bill, sir?" asked Daichi.

Professor Chronos turned around quickly and face Daichi, startling the Ra Yellow slightly.

"_Non_!" said Professor Chronos. "_Non_! _Non_! _Non_!"

Professor Chronos grinned.

"The Academy is tolerant towards its high achievers," explained Professor Chronos. "Instead…"

Professor Chronos whispered to Daichi whilst Shou and Jaden tried to listen to their conversation. Somehow, the blonde-haired professor sensed the duo trying to eavesdrop and turned around, scowling at them.

"This has nothing to do with you two!" scolded Professor Chronos.

Jaden and Shou winced as Professor Chronos shooed them away, his face at its current state intimidated them.

"Shoo!" yelled Professor Chronos. "Shoo! Shoo! Sashisuse-shoo!"

Jaden and Shou ran away from Professor Chronos.

"We're sorry!" Shou and Jaden cried out.

Professor Chronos watched the Osiris Red duo run away, the ball on his left eye dropping onto the ground. He turned to Daichi afterwards, who noticed the blonde-haired professor was now sporting a black eye.

"So, Signore Misawa, despite the interference, there will be a condition in place of my doctor's fee," explained Professor Chronos. "And that is…"

* * *

Later in class,

Manjoume sat down in his seat and kicked back.

"Hey!" said Manjoume. "Drink and massage, over here!"

"What's with him?" asked someone.

Manjoume blinked and looked over at a group of Obelisk Blue students, perplexed.

"Huh?" he said. "What's the matter?"

The group of Obelisk Blues looked at each other and started talking.

"What's he thinking?" asked someone.

"Who does he think he is?" asked another.

Manjoume placed his hands on his desk.

"Oi, damn it!" said Manjoume.

An Obelisk Blue student with short, brown hair walked up to Manjoume.

"Manjoume, where are you sitting?" asked the brown-haired Obelisk Blue.

Manjoume turned to the Obelisk Blue in front of him.

"'Where'?" repeated Manjoume.

"This isn't your seat anymore, you know," said the Obelisk Blue student. "So, move it."

Manjoume scowled at the Obelisk Blue student.

"What are you talking about?" Manjoume snapped, pointing at the tag on his desk. "My name's right here on this seat…"

Manjoume trailed off as he looked at the tag, his eyes widening as the tag read 'Empty Seat'.

"It's gone!" exclaimed Manjoume.

The Obelisk Blue student standing by Manjoume smirked and directed him over to a seat on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, of course it is," said the Obelisk Blue. "You were moved to over there."

Manjoume looked at the direction the Obelisk Blue pointed at.

"What was that?" exclaimed Manjoume. "A seat change? And in _that_ corner, to boot?"

Manjoume stood up in his seat as he looked down at Professor Chronos, who had just walked in.

"Professor Chronos!" said Manjoume. "What is the meaning of this? Why was I move to that seat?"

Professor Chronos grinned and stared at Manjoume.

"Because, you, Signore Manjoume, lost to an Osiris Red student," answered Professor Chronos. "And that is not all…Signore, tomorrow you must duel with Ra Yellow's Daichi Misawa with a dorm change at stake!"

Manjoume was shocked with what he heard.

"T-Then, if I lose, I'll be demoted to Ra Yellow?" said Manjoume.

Professor Chronos waved it off.

"Now, now, take your seat-_no ne_," he said. "Your _own_ seat."

Manjoume clenched his teeth everyone in the classroom began to snicker. Not wanting to hear them, Manjoume pushed the brown-haired Obelisk Blue out of his way and ran out of the room. Even as he ran out of the Main academy Building, he could still hear their laughter.

"A demotion, he says?" Manjoume yelled, scowling as laughter rang in his ears.

* * *

Sometime later outside the Ra Yellow Dorms,

Jaden and Shou followed Daichi as he walked back to his dorm.

"You sure are good at baseball, Misawa," said Jaden.

"In the end, Aniki got creamed, too," said Shou.

Jaden ignored that comment from Shou as Daichi placed his bag onto the ground. Daichi held up the bat he used and showed it to Jaden and Shou.

"This is the key," Daichi said, showing the Osiris Red duo the writings on the bat.

"Formulas?" said Jaden.

Daichi nodded.

"That's right," he said. "Even the pitches I threw were all varied throws I figured out through calculations."

Jaden started at the equations on the bat.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "You can manage that?"

Shou looked at Daichi.

"So, what's our penalty game going to be?" asked Shou.

Daichi grinned and laughed.

A few moments later,

Daichi opened the door to his room for Jaden and Shou.

"Well, step into my room," said Daichi.

Jaden and Shou walked into Daichi's room and stared at it wide-eyed when they saw a multitude of equations written on the walls…and even the ceiling!

"Wha?" they exclaimed. "What is all this?"

Daichi walked past the Osiris Red duo towards his desk and dropped his bat and bag onto the floor.

"They're all equations that I wrote down out of whim," said Daichi.

Daichi gestured at one of the many equations.

"Over there is Schrodinger's Cat," Daichi said, gesturing at another equation. "Here, we have Avogadro's Law. And that's the probability of 'If the wind blows, a bucket maker prospers.'"

Jaden looked up at the ceiling and wowed.

"I heavily question how you were able to write on the ceiling," said Jaden. "But still…wow."

Daichi looked at Jaden and Shou, smiling at them.

"I want you both to assist me in the Big Bang of all these stars!" Daichi said, holding his hands up.

Jaden and Shou blinked owlishly at Daichi.

"Big Bang?" they said.

Daichi held up a bucket and a mop in his hands as he smiled at Jaden and Shou.

"Yep," said Daichi. "Big Bang."

A few moments later,

Jaden was painting the ceiling with white paint using a brush. She stood on a ladder for support, but even then, she still had to stand on her toes to reach the ceiling. It didn't matter to her, though. She was having fun painting over the equations on the ceiling.

"Take that!" she said. "And that!"

Shou was painting the walls while Daichi used a rag to clean up any of the white paint that managed to fall onto the carpet.

"This is the Big Bang!" shouted the trio.

"Be gone!" Shou said as he painted the walls. "Be gone!"

"Away with you all!" said Daichi.

Jaden laughed and continued to paint the ceiling, a thought popping up in mind.

"Hey, check it out!" said Jaden. "I'm Michelangelo!"

Shou and Daichi got the reference and laughed along with Jaden. Jaden turned around on the ladder to paint the spots she missed.

"Get it?" said Jaden. "Cause I'm painting the ceil—Whoa!"

The ladder Jaden was on started to wobble back and forth due to the turn she did so suddenly on it a few moments ago. Jaden struggled to keep her balance on the wobbling ladder…this proved to be futile as she ended up falling back and dropping her paintbrush. Luckily, Daichi looked up and caught Jaden before she fell off the ladder. As for Shou…well…

THWACK!

Shou got a face full of paint from the brush Jaden dropped onto his face. He fell back onto the ground and got up, paint in his face and bangs. Daichi and Jaden breathed deeply to try and calm their pounding hearts. That…was waaay too close for comfort. Trying to ease up the tension caused by what just happened; Daichi looked at Jaden, whose back was currently against his chest.

"Yeah, but Jaden…" Daichi said as he propped Jaden onto the ladder in a sitting position. "I don't think he fell off the ladder when he was painting the Sistine Chapel."

Jaden blinked and looked at Daichi for a few seconds before she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Who asked ya!" snapped Jaden. "And…has anyone seen my paintbrush?"

Shou, having heard Jaden, glared at her.

"What the hell, Aniki?" said Shou. "How could you?"

Daichi and Jaden stared at Shou, noticing his paint-drenched face. Jaden was taken aback and flailed her arms as she realized what happened to her paintbrush.

"Hey!" said Jaden. "It wasn't on purpose! It was an accident!"

Shou growled and bent down to pick up the paint bucket on the ground.

"You do know this means war," said Shou.

Jaden yelled as she saw Shou's intent and backed up…which she immediately regretted doing and cursed at herself at for doing that on a _ladder_.

"Whoa!" yelled Jaden. _"Why…oh god, _why _did I just back up on a freakin' ladder?"_

Daichi, having gone back to cleaning the rug with the paint-saturated rag, heard Jaden and Shou and stood up. He looked at them somewhat miffed.

"What are you guys doing?" asked Daichi. "Get serio—"

Daichi was cut off as he stared wide-eyed at Jaden. Somehow, her rash actions caused the ladder to wobble again. After a few moments of trying to regain balance, she toppled back. Daichi caught her before she fell off. He made a mental note to _never_ let Jaden on _that_ ladder.

His mental note was interrupted as he and Jaden got a bucketful of white paint thrown on them, courtesy of Shou, who had just gotten vengeance. Jaden, being in front of Daichi at the time, got hit full on. Daichi, compared to Shou, just got a bigger face full of paint.

Jaden and Shou stared at Daichi, who was silent. After a few seconds, the Osiris Red duo burst into laughter. Daichi growled and tightened his fists as he heard his acquaintances laugh.

"Why, you!" said Daichi. "Quit laughing!"

Out of anger, Daichi hit Jaden in the face with the pain-saturated rag. Jaden stopped laughing and shook her head to get the paint off, scowling at Daichi afterwards. Even though it was rather out of place and out of character of him, Daichi couldn't help but think 'adorable' when he saw Jaden's paint-drenched form. Aside from adorable, it was also amusing.

Daichi immediately snapped out of his thoughts as he dodged a paintbrush jabbed at him from Jaden. The Ra Yellow retaliated to Jaden's attack by trying to hit her with the rag. Jaden dodged and continued to jab at Daichi. Shou couldn't help but laugh out loud at how he, Jaden, and Daichi were acting…_especially_ Daichi, who _should_ have been mature.

Of course, when angered, immaturity overwhelms maturity, as discovered by the trio, but no one cared. Assaulting each other with paint was _waaay_ more important at the moment for anyone to care what was immature or not. It was also the reason why it took Shou, Daichi, and Jaden at _least_ 15 minutes into their paint assault that they were _supposed_ to have been painting a room and _not_ each other.

Since the last of the paint was dumped on Jaden, another paint bucket was opened by Daichi. Daichi looked at Jaden and Shou with a serious expression.

"Okay," said Daichi. "Now that we've stopped acting like children, let's get back to painting this room."

Jaden and Shou both nodded before going back to their spots. Just as Jaden was about to climb up the ladder, Daichi stopped her because he remembered the mental note he made. When the gender-mistaken girl stared at the Ra Yellow perplexed, he just said…

"I'd rather not risk another 'Michelangelo' stunt," said Daichi.

Jaden rolled her eyes.

"Yeah right, you just want the ceiling to yourself," said Jaden. "If that's what you want…go ahead!"

Daichi blinked as Jaden snatched the rag out of his hand and went to his post.

"Stingy…" Jaden muttered.

Daichi was surprised. He would've expected her to fight back, but she didn't.

Sometime later,

The walls were fully painted, as was the ceiling, and the carpet was cleaned up of any paint that fell on it. Shou, Jaden, and Daichi stared at their 'Big Bang', still very much covered in paint. Daichi was just about to ask about that when he got a hit in the face with a paint-saturated rag.

SPLAT!

Daichi shook his head to shake off the paint and glared at Jaden as she laughed at him.

"Made ya think I gave up that easily!" said Jaden. "You got off easy this time."

Daichi diverted his eyes at the paintbrush in his hand and smirked.

"Oh, really?" said Daichi.

Jaden was just about to answer back when she got jabbed with a paintbrush. She blinked and stared at Daichi.

"Now we're even," said Daichi. "Protest and you won't be seeing_ Pegasus' Island_."

Jaden crossed her arms and huffed.

"Fine," she said.

Daichi nodded.

"Now, as I was going to say before I was rudely interrupted," Daichi said before staring at Jaden sternly, who smiled back awkwardly. "Would you guys like to clean yourselves up?"

Jaden and Shou looked at themselves, finding that they were very much covered in paint.

Later,

Shou and Daichi waited outside the Ra Yellow bathhouse for Jaden, who happened to be the _only_ one in there currently bathing. Daichi could not be any more confused to how the Osiris Red acted when he asked him (Daichi doesn't know, remember?) if he needed anything while inside the bathhouse.

The answer was in the form of a bucket thrown at the Ra Yellow, to which he dodged, followed by a towel in the face he _didn't_ dodge (A/N DODGE! Ha! TeamFourStar FTW!). When Daichi asked Shou, all he got was…

"Aniki likes privacy," said Shou.

Daichi sighed and rubbed his temples as Shou looked at him questioningly.

"Misawa, what's wrong?" asked Shou.

Daichi waved it off.

"Nothing, just thinking too much," said Daichi.

Shou nodded and sighed. A few more moments had passed when Jaden _finally_ came out of the bathhouse, currently wearing some of Daichi's clothes, hers having been covered in paint and all. She was carrying a bag with her clothes in them when she walked out.

"Okay, your guys' turn," said Jaden. "Knock yourselves out."

Daichi and Shou nodded and walked into the bathhouse, both having a change of clothes in a bag (and yes, they were also Daichi's clothes).

Sometime later in the meal hall,

Jaden and Shou were currently eating fried shrimp, which Jaden would have to say were very delicious…and she did. Both she and Shou were dressed in the clothes Daichi lent them. As a result, they seemed smaller than they were due to their acquaintance's taller stature. Not that they minded, of course. Eating fried shrimp happened to be very important at the moment in Jaden's opinion, to which Shou couldn't help but agree.

After remembering the events that happened today, Jaden couldn't help but laugh as she used her fork to bring another fried shrimp into her mouth.

"We're sorry, Misawa," Jaden said with food in her mouth. "This was supposed to be punishment, but it turned out to be a meal."

Shou swallowed the food in his mouth and looked at Daichi.

"Yeah!" said Shou. "It's an amazing meal!"

Daichi smiled as he picked up a tray from one of the chefs.

"Well, then, please keep on eating," Daichi said, walking over to the table the duo sat holding a tray with a lobster. "Help yourselves to as much as you want."

Daichi placed the lobster on the table. Shou and Jaden stared wide-eyed at the lobster in awe.

"I don't even get food like this on my birthday!" said Jaden.

Shou blinked and looked at Daichi.

"Come to think of it, what did you and Professor Chronos talk about earlier?" asked Shou.

Daichi sat himself down in a chair and smiled.

"Ah, right," said Daichi. "It was about a dorm change test."

Jaden blinked owlishly.

"Dorm change?" repeated Jaden.

"So, the whole cleaning your room thing…" said Shou.

"Misawa, you're…" said Jaden.

Daichi stared perplexed at Shou and Jaden as they looked at him with ecstatic grins.

"…finally getting promoted to Obelisk Blue, then?" finished Jaden.

Shou laughed.

"N-Not as of _yet_…" said Daichi.

Shou and Jaden placed their eating utensils down as they tightened their fists and smiled at Daichi.

"We knew it!" they said. "We knew it!"

Memories of Daichi's entrance exam popped up in the Osiris Red duo's head.

"You were strong enough to be in your own league back at the entrance exams too!" said Jaden. "You getting into Obelisk Blue was obvious!"

Shou nodded as he and Jaden grinned widely at Daichi.

"Good job, Misawa!" said Jaden.

"Good job, Misawa-kun!" Shou said at the same time.

Daichi grinned back at Shou and Jaden.

"Y-Yeah, I guess," said Daichi.

"That's great," said Jaden. "Really great!"

With that said, both Jaden and Shou went back to eating their food. Daichi looked at them and smiled.

* * *

~meanwhile in the Obelisk Blue Dorms~

Manjoume, sitting on a couch, was in his room currently conversing with two older men via a video phone call. The two older men were Manjoume's older brothers, Chosaku and Shouji.

"**Hey, Jun!"** said Chosaku.

"Yes," said Manjoume.

"**You **_**do**_** understand, right?"** asked Chosaku.

Manjoume nodded.

"Yes, Chosaku-nii-san, Shouji-nii-san," said Manjoume.

"**My hands have been so tied with my election campaign, and Shouji's as well with his banking settlements…"** Chosaku said, **"…that we haven't had the time to contact you, but…"**

"**You're at the top academically, right, Jun?"** asked Shouji. **"Our Elder Brother is at the top in the political world, while I'm in the financial world. Jun, we have plans to have you rule the card game world and dominate the world with the Manjoume family! You understand, don't you, Jun?"**

**"The future of the Manjoume family is riding on your shoulders," **said Chosaku.

With that said, both brothers hung up, leaving Manjoume thinking about what he just discussed with his older brothers. With what he was just told, there was no doubt that the pressure was on.

"_What should I do?"_ thought Manjoume. _"I can't say I might get demoted instead of having the top seat…"_

Manjoume stood up and walked over to the window, his expression anxious for once.

"_Not to my brothers…"_ thought Manjoume.

Manjoume blinked as he saw three silhouettes through his window. He immediately recognized one of them.

"_That's…Daichi Misawa,"_ thought Manjoume.

Daichi was following Jaden and Shou back to their dorm. Manjoume watched them go, perplexed.

"Is he going over to Osiris Red?" thought Manjoume. "If he is, his dorm is…"

Manjoume's eyes widened as his breath hitched.

* * *

~later in the Osiris Red Dorms~

After watching _Pegasus' Island_ and sliding out the mattress from Jaden's bed onto the floor, both said gender-mistaken girl and Daichi were on their backs on the aforementioned mattress…sleeping next to each other. Hayato and Shou looked at them from within their bunk beds.

"Who's this guy?" asked Hayato. "And where did he get the _Pegasus' Island_ DVD?"

Shou looked up.

"Since his room got painted, he's got nowhere to sleep," said Shou. "And I don't know..."

Hayato stared at Daichi, who was snoring in his sleep.

"But still, to think he just came to spend the night without a care like he got demoted…" said Hayato. "Looks like Ra Yellow has its share of unusual folks, as well."

Shou stared back at Jaden and Daichi.

"Still, I wonder if that's why Misawa-kun and Aniki seem to get along so well," said Shou.

* * *

~meanwhile~

It was the middle of the night and Manjoume made his way towards the Ra Yellow Dorms. After managing to sneak in, he quickly looked around the halls for Daichi's room. He placed his hand on the nametag that read 'Misawa' on a door. He was just about to open the door when something caught his eye.

Right next to the door under the window, where the moonlight shone down, was a desk and other stuff as well, but Manjoume's gaze was focused on the desk.

* * *

~the next day…IN THE TOOLSHED~

A/N Someone's gonna have to donate me a watermelon in a review because I happen to be out of them. Seriously, I gotta get the narrator a watermelon for making him say toolshed! That's for you, **heartlessneko**, who got all my references!

Jaden woke up to the feeling of being held. Yawning, she blinked a few times, her vision clearing as the first thing she saw was yellow, her eyes immediately widened when she realized who it was. In front of her, was Daichi and he was invading her personal bubble by having his arms around her while she gripped onto his jacket. How this happened while they were asleep, she'll never know, but all she knew within a reflex of hers that this was a very good time to scream…which she did. Loudly…very loudly and girly (*gasp*).

The first thing Daichi woke up to was a high-pitched scream, followed by a punch-no, knee below the belt…literally.

A/N Hey! You two, I wanted a clean fight! That means no punching (or kneeing) below the belt, although the face is encouraged. Sheesh! Characters these days…

As Daichi rolled off the mattress in pain, Shou and Hayato were staring at Jaden, who was wide-eyed and sort of freaking out as she stared at Daichi. Daichi, having recovered from the blow dealt below the belt, glared at Jaden, who was hyperventilating.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" shouted Daichi.

Jaden had her hand on her chest as she tried to calm her pounding heart. She inhaled deeply and exhaled before looking at Daichi.

"You invaded my personal bubble," said Jaden.

Daichi blinked at Jaden and shook his head. Hayato kept staring at Jaden, perplexed.

"Did you just scream like…a girl?" asked Hayato.

Jaden blinked and blushed before she glared at Hayato.

"So what if I did?" snapped Jaden. "You got a problem?"

"Not really…just a big surprise hearing it from someone like you!" said Hayato.

Daichi blinked at what he just heard as Jaden growled and climbed up the ladder.

"That's it, Koala-man!" yelled Jaden. "You're going down!"

And he did…literally. Hayato was pulled off the bed and landed safely on the mattress on the floor, much to Jaden's displeasure. Daichi stared wide-eyed at what Jaden just did and looked at Hayato.

"Did he just…did he just pull you off your bed?" asked Daichi.

Hayato turned to Daichi and rolled his eyes.

"Nah, I randomly rolled off my bed in my—of course she pulled me off!" snapped Hayato.

Daichi's eyes widened.

"She?" exclaimed Daichi.

Hayato ignored Daichi and continued on, "Yellow took self-defense!"

Jaden blinked and scowled.

"Did you just call me 'Yellow'?" asked Jaden.

Hayato looked up at Jaden.

"So what if I did?" asked Hayato. "You're only a year older than Yellow, yet you can still pass for a guy what with your missing assets!"

Daichi, having heard everything, could not be any more confused. Right now, all he wanted was answers.

"What is going on?" yelled Daichi.

Shou, Jaden, and Hayato all blinked and looked at Daichi. Shou, being the first to realize it, spoke to Daichi.

"You mean you don't know?" asked Shou. "Aniki's a girl."

Daichi's jaw dropped as he stared at Jaden. Jaden smiled at him sheepishly and held up a V-sign.

"Ehehe," said Jaden.

Everything that had happened yesterday and the day before that as well as what Asuka said was coming together.

"_That's what Hayato meant by no assets!"_ Daichi thought as he looked at Jaden, his face turning red.

That also explained with how Jaden acted when Daichi tried to go into the bathhouse while she was in there. Of course…it was only natural to do that, but still…

"For Ra's sake, why didn't you tell me?" yelled Daichi.

Jaden rubbed the back of her head and climbed out of Hayato's bunk bed.

"You never asked," said Jaden. "And compared to Shou, you took it easier than him."

Daichi looked at Shou, who was blushing.

"What happened?" asked Daichi.

Shou looked down and twiddled with his fingers.

"It was the day after we arrived to Duel Academy," said Shou. "I accidentally went into the girls' gym and I found Aniki in there…I didn't know until she told me when I asked about her uniform and…"

Shou trailed off as Jaden finished for him.

"He fainted," said Jaden.

Shou nodded and said, "Hayato-kun already knew from Daitokuji-sensei."

Jaden yawned loudly and wiped the tears welded in her eyes as she stepped off the ladder. Daichi looked at Jaden and wondered…

"How did you end up in the Osiris Red dorms when you're supposed to be in the Obelisk Blue dorms?" asked Daichi.

One explanation later,

"And that's how I ended up in this dorm," said Jaden. "They're building my room right now."

"That explains the construction going by the left side of the dorm…" muttered Daichi. (1)

Daichi sighed and looked at Jaden, who was currently giving Hayato a noogie.

"Take…it…back!" said Jaden.

Hayato tried to pull Jaden off, but it was in vain seeing as if he managed to pull her off, she'd probably manage to tear out a good chunk of his hair with the grip she had on it at the moment.

"Fine!" Hayato said, exasperated. "I take it back!"

Jaden nodded in approval and got off Hayato. Wiping her hands on her sweatshirt (she changed last night out of Daichi's clothes), she looked at Daichi.

"So, you understand?" asked Jaden. "Although, I would've expected you to know because of the gym uniform I wore."

"I thought you were one of the few guys who had to take the girl's uniform because they ran out of the boy's!" said Daichi.

Jaden blinked a few times.

"Ohh!" said Jaden. "That's why they still think I'm a guy!"

Daichi stuttered a few times before throwing his hands up and placing them on his head.

"You're one _very_ interesting person…" Daichi said as he rubbed his temples. "Though I question…why don't you ever bother correcting people's misused pronouns on you?"

Jaden scratched the back of her head.

"I don't mind, I'm rather used to it," said Jaden.

Daichi fell back anime-style.

"It would've at least helped if you had told me so I would've avoided a thrown bucket and a towel to the face…" Daichi muttered as he lied back on the floor. "Although I wonder…how long have people thought you as a male?"

Jaden crossed her arms and looked down with her eyes closed.

"Hmm…I dunno," said Jaden. "I'm just gonna make a guess and say probably my whole life."

Daichi looked at Jaden perplexed.

"How did you manage to pull this off for 15 years?" asked Daichi. "Or however long it really was?"

Jaden let out a puff of breath.

"Don't ask me, even I don't know," said Jaden. "And Koala-man, if you say another word about my lacking assets…I'll throw you on the ground _without_ the mattress."

A sudden banging on the Osiris Red trio's door caught everyone's attention as well as Tome's very worried voice.

"Bad news!" yelled Tome. "Jaden-chan, bad news!"

Jaden ran up to the door and opened it. The first thing she saw was Tome's concerned face.

"What's wrong, Tome-san?" asked Jaden.

Daichi, Shou, and Hayato walked up to Jaden by the doorway as Tome explained.

"I unloaded a ship and went down to the pier, but there they were, all thrown away!" said Tome. "A _whole_ bunch of cards!"

Shou gasped as Jaden's eyes widened.

"There were cards?" said Jaden.

Jaden ran out of the room past Tome with Daichi and Shou trailing after her.

"Jaden-chan!" said Tome. "Jaden-chan!"

A few moments later by the pier,

Jaden knelt down onto one knee on the ground, staring down at the cards in the water. Daichi, Shou, and Tome stood up on a somewhat higher-level of pavement behind Jaden.

A/N If it sounds confusing, it's because I'm sorta rushing it with the chores I'm ditching out on at the moment. Another is because I can't describe some parts when it comes to stuff like that, so yeah…back to story!

Jaden gasped as she recognized one of the many cards scattered in the water from memory.

"Ring of Destruction…" she said, recognizing another card, "…and Blood Vorse, which means…Misawa's cards were the ones thrown away!"

Daichi stared at his cards as they floated in the water.

"I was careless," said Daichi. "This deck was in the desk that was put in the hallway yesterday."

Shou looked at Daichi.

"Who in the world could've done this?" asked Shou.

Jaden frowned.

"And this was your big chance to be promoted to Obelisk Blue, too!" Jaden said, standing up and tightening her fists. "Now we don't have the time to gather up all your cards!"

Jaden looked at Daichi.

"What are you going to do?" she asked. "How will you fight without your deck? Your test is going to be starting soon, Misawa!"

Daichi just stayed silent.

Later,

Daichi (with duel disk in hand), Shou, and Jaden ran into the duel field arena where Manjoume and Professor Chronos were waiting at. Professor Chronos stared at Daichi.

"You're late-_no ne_, Signore Misawa," said Professor Chronos.

Manjoume smirked at Daichi.

"I thought you already ran away with your tail between your legs," said Manjoume.

Daichi, Jaden, and Shou stopped in front of Professor Chronos and Manjoume. Jaden stared at Manjoume, her eyes widening.

"T-Then, the guy Misawa's facing to change his dorm…" Jaden said, blinking as she realized something. "I get it! You're the one who threw away Misawa's cards, aren't you?"

Professor Chronos was taken aback with what Jaden just said.

"What did you say?" asked Professor Chronos.

Manjoume scowled at Jaden.

"What are you falsely accusing me of, Jaden?" snapped Manjoume. "Why would I…"

"I wonder if it's really a false accusation," remarked someone.

Jaden and Shou blinked before turning around. Standing a few feet away from them was Ryou and Asuka.

"Asuka, Kaiser Ryou…" said Jaden.

"I happened to see it," said Asuka. "I saw you, Manjoume-kun, tossing his cards into the shore."

Everyone in the room except Ryou (A/N Mori!) and Asuka gasped. Manjoume just gritted his teeth and scowled.

"And since I was curious, I came here to find out why," explained Asuka.

Jaden glared daggers at Manjoume.

"That's a dirty move, Manjoume!" yelled Jaden. "So, you really did do it!"

Manjoume tightened his fists and scowled at Jaden.

"Shut it," snapped Manjoume. "I threw away some of my own cards. Or was there a name written on those cards?"

"Manjoume!" yelled Jaden.

"You're going to take responsibility for accusing me of being a thief," said Manjoume.

Manjoume looked at Professor Chronos and smirked.

"What would you say to the loser of this duel getting expelled?" suggested Manjoume.

Jaden held up her fist.

"That's totally unreasonable!" remarked Jaden. "Now that Misawa's deck lost some of its key cards, it's…"

"No, I'll accept the duel," said Daichi.

Jaden looked at Daichi, shocked.

"Huh?" said Jaden.

"I have a deck, and I will accept those conditions!" said Daichi.

Shou and Jaden stared wide-eyed at Daichi.

"Misawa!" they both said.

Daichi looked at Jaden.

"Sorry I made you worry, Jaden," said Daichi. "And sorry about…you know, this morning."

Jaden blushed slightly and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that…" Jaden said meekly. "It's a reflex…"

"I wouldn't blame you," said Daichi. "Anyways, the deck that was tossed away was a mish-mash deck for tweaking."

Daichi unzipped his jacket and gripped it with both hands.

"My real deck…is right here!" Daichi exclaimed, opening his jacket to reveal a vest he wore with six pouches. "Behold the six decks packed with my blood and soul! _Kaze_-As swift as the wind! _Mizu_-As quiet as the water! _Hi_-As aggressive as the fire! _Chi_-As sedentary as the earth! _Yami_-Through the evil darkness, _hikari_ (light!) will shine!" (3)

Manjoume was taken aback with the six decks on Daichi. However, with familial pressure on him, Manjoume's anxiety was replaced with spite.

"S-Six decks, is it?" Manjoume said, taking out his own deck and holding it up. "Allow me to take those gaudy bluffs of yours and char them into cinders with these flames of malice of mine!"

"Heh, that settles it," said Daichi. "The deck that will defeat you…is this one!"

Daichi quickly took a deck out if its pouch and activated his duel disk. He then placed his deck within the duel disk.

"Set up!" he said. "You'll soon learn whether this deck is for show or not, Manjoume!"

"Bring it, Misawa!" retorted Manjoume.

Both Manjoume and Daichi were on their opposite sides of the field facing each other.

"Duel!" they both exclaimed.

Manjoume:

LP

4000

Daichi:

LP

4000

"I'll go first!" said Manjoume. "I draw a card! I summon Hell Soldier in attack mode!"

Hell Soldier appeared on Manjoume's side of the field.

ATK 1200

"I place one face-down to end my turn!" said Manjoume.

A face-down card appeared on Manjoume's side of the field next to Hell Soldier.

"My turn," Daichi said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden stared at the card in Daichi's hand.

"Which attribute did Misawa choose?" asked Jaden.

"Wind?" said Asuka. "Water?"

Their question was soon answered as Daichi played the card in his hand.

"I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode!" said Daichi. "Come forth, Hydrogeddon!"

A monster composed of pure hydrogen (A/N 8th grade honors science…you'll prove your use and the hellish teacher I had to me with the knowledge I learned!) appeared on the field with a roar.

ATK 1600

The attribute was water.

"I use Hydrogeddon to attack Hell Soldier!" said Daichi. "Hydro Breath! Eliminate his Hell Soldier!"

Hydrogeddon opened its mouth and shot out a blast of hydrogen at Hell Soldier with force, destroying Manjoume's monster.

Manjoume:

LP

3600

Manjoume recovered from the aftermath attack.

"Still, at this moment, Hell Soldier's special effect is activated!" said Manjoume. "It will deal all Battle Damage received by the player straight to the opponent as well!"

Daichi:

LP

3600

Jaden, Shou, and Asuka gasped while Ryou was still stoic…however, he spoke.

"What?" said Ryou.

"Then, when he attacks it…" said Jaden.

Daichi clenched his teeth as he reached for his deck.

"I'll activate a special effect, as well!" said Daichi. "When Hydrogeddon destroys an opponent's monster by battle, I can special-summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck! Come out, Hydrogeddon!"

A second Hydrogeddon appeared next to the first one on Daichi's side of the field.

"My Battle Phase hasn't concluded yet," said Daichi. "I'll use Hydrogeddon to attack you directly, Manjoume! Go, Hydrogeddon! Hydro Breath!"

Manjoume stared wide-eyed and agape at the hydrogen blast shot straight at him from Hydrogeddon's mouth. The blast knocked him back onto the ground as his life points decreased.

Manjoume:

LP

2000

Manjoume got off from the ground and reached for his deck.

"My turn…" Manjoume said, drawing a card. "I activate the Trap card, Call of the Living Dead. With this card, I can special-summon a monster from my Graveyard! And the card I'm summoning…is this! Be reborn, Hell Soldier!"

Hell Soldier returned to his position on Manjoume's field.

"Next, I activate the Magic card, Hell Reckless Summoning…" Manjoume said, playing a card, "…which special-summons monsters identical to a monster on our fields…from our decks, hands, and Graveyards, all in attack mode!"

Two more Hell Soldiers appeared next to the Hell Soldier already on the field as a third Hydrogeddon joined the other two on Daichi's field.

"No matter how many Hell Soldiers he gets together, their ATK is 1200," said Asuka. "They don't come close to Hydrogeddon."

"He must have some sort of plan in store," remarked Ryou.

Manjoume overheard Ryou and smirked.

"Precisely, Kaiser," said Manjoume. "And it is I who will succeed you in Obelisk Blue!"

Jaden clenched her teeth and glared at Manjoume.

"Get on with the duel, Safer Sephiroth!" snapped Jaden.

Manjoume gritted his teeth at hearing Jaden and her referring to him as a _Square Enix_ villain.

"Shut it, dropout boy!" snapped Manjoume. "I activate the Equip Magic, Hell Alliance!"

A card appeared on Manjoume's field as he explained its effect.

"This increases the ATK of the equipped monster by 800 points for each monster with the same name as it," explained Manjoume. "The ATK of my equipped Hell Soldier is…3600!"

A blue light engulfed the Hell Soldier revived by Call of the Living Dead.

ATK 3600

Shou, Jaden, Asuka, and…yes, even Ryou, were shocked at the sudden raise of ATK in Hell Soldier.

"Go, Hell Soldier!" Manjoume said as he tightened his fist.

The overpowered Hell Soldier swung his sword at a Hydrogeddon, destroying the hydrogen-composed monster.

Daichi:

LP

1600

"Misawa!" exclaimed Jaden.

Shou looked at Daichi concerned.

"T-This isn't good," said Shou. "Now, Misawa-kun's life points are down to 1600. Things have flipped around now!"

Jaden blinked and ruffled Shou's hair.

"Shou…don't say anything," said Jaden.

Shou blinked and blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"That was nothing!" Daichi said as he drew a card. "It's my turn! Come forth, Oxygeddon!"

A green, winged dragon-like monster composed of oxygen appeared on the field.

ATK 1800

"Attack one of his 1200-ATK Hell Soldiers!" ordered Daichi. "Oxy Stream!"

Oxygeddon opened its mouth and sent out an invisible, but forceful stream of oxygen at one of the weaker Hell Soldiers, destroying it.

Manjoume:

LP

1400

Manjoume shielded himself from the blast and looked at Daichi afterwards.

"However, when Hell Soldier's destroyed, all the damage I take will be forced onto you, too!" said Manjoume.

Daichi:

LP

1000

Daichi was unfazed with his decrease in life points.

"Next, I use Hydrogeddon to attack another Hell Soldier!" said Daichi.

One Hydro Breath and Hell Soldier destroyed with a decrease in both Manjoume and Daichi's life points later…

Manjoume:

LP

1000

Daichi:

LP

600

Shou was now concerned.

"He can try all he wants, but it's his _own_ life points that are getting reduced!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden snatched Shou's glasses as she looked at Daichi, smiling.

"No, he's fine," reassured Jaden.

Shou blinked and felt his face for his glasses. Finding none, he looked at Jaden and frowned.

"Aniki!" whined Shou.

As Jaden kept Shou at a distance from his glasses in her hand, Ryou gave a small smile.

"Jaden's right," said Ryou.

Shou stopped what he was doing, which was trying to get back his glasses from Aniki, and looked at Ryou, perplexed.

"Huh?" Shou said as he latched onto Jaden's waist with perfect accuracy.

This popped a question up from Jaden.

"Why do you need glasses, Shou?" asked Jaden.

Jaden was ignored as Ryou explained how said gender-mistaken girl was right.

"The ATK of Hell Soldier with the Equip Magic is 3600," said Ryou. "It can't be defeated unless you summon a considerably powerful monster. But look."

Shou adjusted his glasses, courtesy of Jaden, who, after given a look from Ryou, gave Shou back his glasses. Hell Soldier's ATK points decreased back to its original number.

"I get it now!" exclaimed Shou. "With less Hell Soldiers, its ATK has gone down!"

Jaden nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, Misawa made his chance to turn the match around by reducing some of his own life points," said Jaden.

Daichi smiled.

"_Okay…now I have the better number of monsters on the field,"_ thought Daichi. _"If I can stave off his next attack, I'll still have a chance."_

Daichi picked a card from his hand and placed it face-down.

"I place one card face-down and finish my turn!" said Daichi.

"My turn," said Manjoume. "Misawa, your petty tricks won't work on me!"

Manjoume folded his hand and discarded them save for one.

"I sacrifice my Hell Soldier and my entire hand to summon Blazing Demon-Hell Burner!" said Manjoume.

Flames engulfed Hell Soldier as they swirled into a fiery sphere.

"Come forth, Hell Burner!" Manjoume said, laughing menacingly.

Shou, Jaden, and Asuka gasped while Ryou (A/N Mori~!) was expressionless.

"What?" Asuka and Shou exclaimed.

"B-Blazing Demon?" said Jaden.

A wave of heat was sent around the room as the sphere dissipated, revealing Blazing Demon-Hell Burner.

ATK 2800

"What now, Misawa?" taunted Manjoume. "My Hell Burner is a high-leveled monster. And what's more, for every one of my opponent's monsters, its ATK goes up by 200 points! There are three monsters on your field, and so, Hell Burner's ATK goes up by 600 points!"

ATK: Previously, 2800

Now…3400!

Jaden's eyes widened.

"An ATK of 3400?" said Jaden. "No matter what monster he shields himself with, Misawa's life points will go down to 0!"

Jaden blinked and placed her hands on her head.

"_Great, now I'm a hypocrite!"_ thought Jaden.

"Now, go!" said Manjoume. "Be burned by my flames of malice, and be gone from this Academy, Misawa!"

Hell Burner shot out a fiery blast from its mouth aimed at Daichi. Asuka, Shou, Jaden, and Ryou all gasped (A/N *gasp* Mori did something!).

"Misawa!" exclaimed Jaden.

Manjoume smirked as the blast was about ready to hit Daichi. Daichi waved his arm as he intervened with his face-down card.

"Trap, activate!" said Daichi.

Pale white bars emerged from the ground and shielded off Daichi's monsters from Hell Burner's attack.

"Amorphous Barrier!" said Daichi. "When there are three or more monsters on my field, this will negate my opponent's attack and end the battle! That's too bad, Manjoume!"

Manjoume grinned at Daichi.

"You're a persistent one," Manjoume remarked, tightening his fist. "However, your end will no doubt come on my next turn!"

"If you _have_ a next turn, that is!" said Daichi.

Manjoume scowled.

"What?" he said.

"My turn," said Daichi. "I activate the Magic card, Bonding-H2O! And I'll offer my two Hydrogeddon and my one Oxygeddon as sacrifices!"

All three said monsters disappeared from the field.

"Come forth, Water Dragon!" said Daichi.

A whirlpool of water shot up as a dragon-like monster composed of water with red eyes appeared on Daichi's field.

ATK 2800

"And with less monsters on my field, Hell Burner's ATK goes down!" said Daichi.

Hell Burner's ATK went 400 points down.

ATK 3000

Manjoume smirked.

"Even so, it's still my monster that has the higher ATK," said Manjoume.

"Heh, we'll see about that," said Daichi. "My equation to defeat you is already complete!"

Professor Chronos gasped.

"W-What was that?" he exclaimed.

Shou and Jaden stared Daichi agape.

"Is he saying that the battles so far have been going as he calculated?" exclaimed Jaden.

A giant wave of water headed straight at Manjoume. Manjoume stared wide-eyed at the tidal wave as he yelled. The wave hit Hell Burner, decreasing its ATK to 0.

"What's this?" asked Manjoume.

Daichi grinned.

"I've activated Water Dragon's special effect," explained Daichi. "As long as this monster is on the field, the ATK of Fire-Attribute and Fire-type monsters become 0! Water Dragon! Aqua Punisher!"

Manjoume stared wide-eyed as Water Dragon shot out a large blast if water at Hell Burner. Hell Burner was destroyed and the water swept Manjoume off the platform and flooded the room. A few moments later, Manjoume popped out from under the water and inhaled deeply.

Manjoume:

LP

0

"Manjoume, as a duelist, you…" said Daichi.

"Shut up!" Manjoume snapped as he scowled at Daichi. "It was because you just so happened to pick a Water-Attribute deck that I…"

"No, it wasn't," said Daichi.

Manjoume blinked and stared at Daichi perplexed.

"It wasn't by chance," explained Daichi. "You told me before the duel had started."

* * *

~flashback~

_Manjoume held up his deck as he smirked._

"_I'll char you to cinders with my flames of malice!" said Manjoume._

~end of flashback~

* * *

"In other words, the outcome was clear before the duel!" said Daichi. "Also, Manjoume…The cards that were thrown into the ocean are, without a doubt, mine."

"How are you sure?" asked Manjoume.

"Because I unintentionally made a memo on this," Daichi explained as he reached into his pocket and took out a card. "It's a formula."

Daichi held up the card for Manjoume to see, a formula indeed written on it.

"Here is your proof," said Daichi. "After all, there's only one card in the world that's scribbled on like this."

Daichi looked at Manjoume.

"Manjoume, those who can't treasure their cards lack what it takes to be a duelist!" said Daichi.

Manjoume hunched over and clenched his teeth as he closed his eyes.

"I've lost yet again!" said Manjoume.

Professor Chronos walked up to Daichi.

"Signore Misawa," said Professor Chronos. "I approve of your transfer over to Obelisk Blue-_no ne_."

"No," said Daichi. "I must turn down your invitation."

Professor Chronos looked at Daichi questioningly.

"Oh?" said Professor Chronos. "Why is that-_na no ne_?"

"I've decided back at the entrance exams that when I get into Obelisk Blue…it'll be when I'm Number One in this Academy," answered Daichi.

Daichi smiled and turned to Jaden, who was by Manjoume holding her hand out to him. When Manjoume refused her hand, Jaden looked at Daichi questioningly.

"Jaden, I'll have to beat you in order to get into Obelisk Blue," said Daichi.

Jaden grinned and tightened her fists.

"All right!" she exclaimed. "If that's the case, let's have a duel right away! I've been dying to duke it out with you, again!"

"I hate to say this, but I can't right now," said Daichi.

Jaden blinked.

"Why not?" asked Jaden.

"The decks here aren't completed yet," explained Daichi. "These six decks are mere prototype decks for the study of your Elemental Hero deck."

Jaden looked at Daichi questioningly as she held out her hand to Manjoume yet again.

"Prototype decks?" she said questioningly.

"P-Prototype deck?" said Manjoume. "I lost to _that_?"

Manjoume glared at Daichi, diverting his eyes on Jaden when he saw her outstretched hand. He reluctantly took it and was helped up from the ground by the gender-mistaken girl. Afterwards, he turned away, wanting to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"Perhaps I can finish it before the re-coated walls of my room are filled up with formulas," said Daichi.

Shou whined.

"But we just finished painting it yesterday…" muttered Shou.

Daichi grinned as he looked at Jaden.

"It'll be my seventh deck, and one that'll defeat your Elemental Hero deck…" said Daichi.

Jaden blinked and grinned.

"A deck that'll get the better of me, huh?" said Jaden. "Sounds fun! _That_'ll be when we rumble! So bring it, Number Two!"

"Right," said Daichi. "Let's go, Ichiban-kun."

Imaginary flames emanated from the two.

"Here goes!" said Daichi.

An imaginary tiger behind Daichi roared.

"You got it!" said Jaden.

An imaginary green Chinese dragon behind Jaden hissed at the tiger. Jaden and Daichi smiled at each other, their rivalry now official.

* * *

A/N End of chapter and it's barely 1 AM! I just screwed myself for your entertainment because my friend's 15 is tomorrow...er, today (Igotta get some sleep...) and I have to get up at 8 AM to get my hair done! And I have to wear a dress! DX At least I'm not wearing heels…I can't even walk in them! Anyways, you know the drill! NO FLAMES!

(1) A/N It's close by their room under the stairs. Reason why I haven't pointed it out earlier was because…I was lazy. Remember! I only had a few hours to sleep on the day I updated this story at 2 AM and I had to do chores!

(2) Yup! Finally explained why…ha ha!

(3) In the past attributes that had been mentioned, I've remembered _Kaze Hikaru_, Yami (it's Atem, dammit!), and my favorite…_Chobits_! I love that series and CLAMP…okay, I may be 15 (14 when I read the series) and that series is for 16 and up, but I don't give a damn! Chii is too damn adorable to ignore!

That's about it! And who wants to be my 20th reviewer?


	10. Turn 10

Chapter Ten

When He Left Duel Academy

~the next day~

Manjoume walked away from the Main Academy Building with his back packed. He stopped and turned around to face the building, smiling.

"Farewell, Duel Academy," said Manjoume.

With one last glance at the building, Manjoume turned and walked away.

* * *

~sometime later in class~

Shou ran down the stairs frantically as he called out to Jaden.

"Aniki!" yelled Shou. "Aniki! Aniki!"

Jaden opened one eye, having woken up from Shou's shouting. She lifted her head off her desk and looked at her blue-haired roommate as he ran up to her. Shou hunched over and placed his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"What's up, Shou?" asked Jaden.

Shou inhaled deeply and looked up at Jaden.

"Bad news!" said Shou. "I heard Manjoume-kun's gone missing!"

Jaden's eyes widened as she stared at Shou in shock.

"What'd you say?" exclaimed Jaden.

Asuka and her friends, Junko Makurada, a rufous-haired girl with dark grey eyes, and Momoe Hamaguchi, a raven-haired girl with brown eyes, overheard Shou. Somewhere in a different section of the room, Manjoume's groupies, Taiyou Torimaki and Raizou Mototani, happened to have been talking about said person Shou mentioned.

"They say he rushed to get his things this morning and ran away," said Taiyou.

Raizou nodded as he leaned back in his seat with his hands behind his head.

"And all because he lost to Misawa, I'm bettin'," he added.

Some of the Ra Yellow students who sat close to Taiyou and Raizou overheard them as they continued to talk about Manjoume. Daichi closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he tried to ignore them seeing as he was sat somewhat close to the two Obelisk Blues.

"What a loser!" remarked Taiyou.

"How disappointing," added Raizou.

Shou and Jaden stared at Taiyou and Raizou as they continued to show their true colors.

"It feels like a losing dog's left!" commented Taiyou.

Both Taiyou and Raizou started laughing as Jaden stared questioningly at them.

"What's with them?" she asked. "Until yesterday, they followed Manjoume like droppings on a goldfish."

A/N Remember, I'm using the subbed version of this series to help with 50 to 75% of this story. The other 25% to sometimes 50% is all original…if you can call that original. Now, back to story!

Shou looked at Jaden.

"Hey, Aniki…" said Shou.

Jaden blinked and looked at Shou.

"You don't think he's completely hiding from everyone just because he lost that duel, do you?" asked Shou.

Jaden stood up from her seat and slammed her hand on her desk…rather hard.

SLAM!

Shou flinched at Jaden's reaction as she scowled while she ignored the fact that at least half the class was staring at her. The students stared at Jaden, most of them amused with her next sudden outburst.

"That jackass!" yelled Jaden. "There's no way that's the case, is there?"

Shou blinked and stayed silent, to which Jaden sighed in dismay.

"That can't be it…" said Jaden.

Jaden looked down and stayed silent for a few moments. Shou looked at her somewhat concerned. Suddenly, Jaden looked up and grabbed Shou's arm.

"C'mon, Shou," said Jaden. "We gotta go get Safer, back."

Shou looked perplexed at Jaden.

"E-eeh?" exclaimed Shou. "But class is about to—"

Jaden interrupted Shou as she began to drag him out of the classroom.

"To hell with class!" said Jaden. "Misawa, I'm leaving the excuse for sensei to you!"

Daichi blinked as Jaden ran up the stairs towards the exit dragging Shou along with her. He looked perplexed at the gender-mistaken girl, whose hand was on the door.

"May I ask why I have to create an excuse for Daitokuji-sensei?" asked Daichi.

Jaden looked down at Daichi as Shou tried to break his roommate's grip on his arm. It was a work in progress that was failing heavily, much to Shou's dismay.

"Because I'm not going to be able to make it for class and you're the smart one!" replied Jaden. "Say no, and I'll make sure Daitokuji finds out what happened yesterday morning!"

Daichi blinked and blushed as memories of yesterday morning rushed into his head. Not wanting to face embarrassment from the Osiris Red whose misconception he oh so _unpleasantly_ (and painfully) discovered just the other day, he had no choice but to agree.

"Very well, then," Daichi said, sighing.

Jaden smiled and nodded in approval as she pushed the door forward and ran out, still dragging Shou. Daichi rubbed his temples as he watched his rival and her roommate run away.

"_I think I liked it better back when I thought she was still a boy…"_ thought Daichi. _"It was less awkward than it is now."_

After somehow dodging security and sneaking past Professor Chronos while dragging a blue-haired Osiris Red, Jaden had managed to have successfully snuck out of class with Shou and was now crawling through a tunnel-like opening in one of the Main Academy Building's walls. She paused midway and peered carefully around. Finding the coast clear, she continued to crawl out the tunnel-like opening as she gave Shou the sign to follow.

"Okay, now!" said Jaden.

Shou crawled through the tunnel-like opening once Jaden was out of the tunnel. Jaden pushed herself off the ground and stood up. She was dusting off the dirt on her shirt when Shou got off the ground and stood next to her. Someone spoke to them so suddenly right after Shou had stood up, it startled both roommates.

"I wonder where you're planning to go by cutting class…" said someone.

Shou and Jaden both jolted in their spots and yelled as their eyes widened. So much for trying to be stealthy and silent… Seeing as their espionage (if one can even _call_ this espionage) was foiled, Shou and Jaden turned around. (1) They exhaled in relief, having been holding their breath from shock. They haven't been discovered by teachers or security, but by three fellow Obelisk Blue students…specifically Asuka and her friends Junko and Momoe.

Both Osiris Reds walked over to the trio as Asuka crossed her arms. How she and her friends managed to get out of class without sneaking out the way they did it, Shou and Jaden will never know…BUT! It wouldn't hurt to ask, right?

"How did you get out without taking the same route we took?" asked Jaden.

Junko jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, pointing in a certain direction as she said, "We used the door."

Jaden blinked a few times.

"Ohh…" she said. "Well, we're going to go look for Manjoume. Right, Shou?"

Shou sighed and nodded somewhat reluctantly. He never did get a chance to voice his opinion on the matter and now that he was here, it was pointless to go back.

"Anyways, I can't just sit around, right?" said Jaden. "Listen, don't tell sensei."

Asuka nodded.

"All right, but there's one condition," said Asuka.

Shou and Jaden were taken aback somewhat with Asuka's proposition.

"Condition?" they both said.

Asuka smiled and continued on with her offer, "We're going with you."

Jaden stared wide-eyed at Asuka, perplexed.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "Why?"

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" asked Asuka. "We can't just sit around."

Jaden nodded and placed her hand on top of Shou's head.

"True…" said Jaden.

~later in the forest~

Voices from the group were heard throughout the forest calling out for Manjoume as they searched for him.

"Hey!" yelled Jaden. "Manjoume!"

Shou looked around and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Manjoume-kun!" Shou called out.

The group stopped in their tracks as Jaden cupped her hands around her mouth and called out for Manjoume again.

"Manjoume!" Jaden called out.

Asuka closed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. She was not amused.

"Honestly…" she said, opening her eyes and cupping her hands around her mouth. "Get out here! I can't believe you'd hide over losing a duel! That's just pitiful!"

Asuka's loud voice disturbed a flock of birds as they flew out of the forest. Jaden, Shou, Junko, and Momoe stared at Asuka, all of them silent from shock as her voice echoed through the forest. A somewhat awkward silence filled the forest for a few moments until Jaden spoke.

"Dang, Asuka…" said Jaden. "You're as forceful as ever…"

Junko smiled and closed her eyes as she responded to Jaden's comment.

"But that's natural," remarked Junko. "Really, he's just a weak boy."

Momoe replied and reacted differently by smiling and holding out her hands with a certain look in her eyes. What that look was, Jaden had no clue what it was.

"Still, I'm sure Manjoume-san's different!" Momoe said, closing her eyes and placing her hands on her cheeks as she blushed slightly. "I mean, he's such a cool guy!"

Jaden clenched her teeth as she looked at Momoe perplexed as she sweat dropped. She wasn't the only one who was confused with the Obelisk Blue's weird behavior. Shou blinked a few times and voiced his question on Momoe's comment.

"What's that mean?" asked Shou.

Junko looked at Momoe questioningly.

"I thought you said Misawa was dreamy the other day?" said Junko. "You're fine with anyone that's good-looking."

Jaden and Shou blinked a few times before they narrowed their eyes. Momoe had a crush on Manjoume, which explained her behavior. Jaden, having focused everything on dueling and such, never showed interest to anyone of the male gender that went beyond a sibling-like, platonic relationship. As a result, her experience with boys went only to friendship, so it was rather natural for Jaden to question why anyone would think Manjoume or Misawa was dreamy since she saw them in a perspective different than Momoe's.

Momoe reacted to Junko's remark by laughing as she placed her hand on her head. Asuka ignored her roommates as she saw something. Jaden noticed Asuka's alert and serious demeanor.

"What's wrong?" asked Jaden.

"Over there!" Asuka said, pointing. "Something moved just now!"

Junko, Shou, Momoe, and Jaden all gasped and turned to the direction Asuka was pointing at. Asuka was pointing at a bush (2) that began to rustle after a few seconds had passed. Shou blinked.

"It's Manjoume-kun," said Shou.

"Oi, is that you, Manjoume?" Jaden asked, smiling afterwards as she walked toward the bush. "It's me, Jaden Yuki!"

Shou, Asuka, Junko, and Momoe followed Jaden as she walked closer to the bush.

"Don't put up a front, just come out!" said Jaden. "Oi!"

The group was all a mere few inches apart from the bush when a monkey outfitted in a partial robotic suit popped out of the bush, scaring the living daylights out of Shou and the girls. Momoe and Junko held onto each other as they shrieked while Jaden, Shou, and Asuka, who were also screaming, stared wide-eyed at the monkey. The monkey rushed towards the group before tackling Shou onto the ground, kicking up a bunch of dirt from the ground creating a ball of dirt. This created a domino-effect that brought the girls into the ball of dirt with Shou and the monkey, seeing as the girls happened to have been close by.

A/N It's just like those saloon fights in the old cartoons back then like in _Popeye_ or in _Disney_ cartoons! Man, I miss the old days now that we have some crappy shows like _Hannah Montana_…

Everyone screamed within the ball of dirt that made everything undistinguishable as the monkey jumped on one another. This ended up knocking everyone on the ground on each other, including the monkey itself, who was trapped underneath them. As the monkey struggled to escape, the domino-effect struck again.

"Ah!" yelled Jaden. "It's grabbing my chest!"

"Sorry, that was me," said Junko. "Wait! You don't even have anything!"

"Not that you know of!" snapped Jaden. _"Sheesh, just because they're small doesn't mean they're not there…does it?"_

"Ah!" yelled Shou. "It's on me!"

"Sorry, that was me!" said Momoe.

"Quit moving, already!" snapped Asuka. "You guys are all on me!"

"AAAAAAHHH!" yelled Junko.

The monkey jumped out of the ball of dirt and ran off with Junko into the forest, leaving the dazed quartet on the ground. Asuka pushed herself out from underneath Shou, Momoe, and Jaden. Momoe inhaled deeply and exhaled as Jaden got off of her. Shou was on the ground on his stomach in a daze as he stared out into space spiral-eyed.

Jaden, Momoe, and Asuka tried to calm their pounding hearts as they stared with wide-eyes at the monkey as it ran off.

"W-What was…" said Asuka.

Jaden was wide-eyed as she stammered a few times before finally saying, "I think it was a monkey…hey, where's Shou?"

In response to Jaden's question, Shou answered with a subtle groan. Momoe heard Shou and looked underneath herself, realizing that she happened to have been sitting on the poor boy's back. After she managed to stutter out a sheepish apology, she got off of Shou quickly.

The sudden sound of rustling startled Jaden as it got louder and closer. Jaden screamed as she stood up from the ground immediately, the top half of her face now blue. Momoe, Shou, and Asuka did likewise as they wondered what it was this time.

"What is it now?" exclaimed Asuka.

From out of the forest ran out three men in suits. One of them was shorter than the other two men and had a beard with a mustache as well as square-lensed glasses. The second man wore square-lensed glasses and was the tallest of the three while the third man wore sunglasses and was in possession of a yellow and red rifle.

"Did he escape?" asked the tallest man.

A loud, high-pitched shriek caught everyone's attention.

"Help me!" shrieked someone.

Asuka and Momoe looked around, realizing that their roommate was missing.

"—Junko?" said Asuka.

"Help me!" shrieked Junko.

Everyone looked at the forest as Junko, who was screaming loudly, was carried through the trees by the monkey. Momoe looked at Junko perplexed.

"Come on, Junko-san…since when were you over there?" asked Momoe.

Junko screamed again.

"Since that monkey carried her off just a while ago," replied Asuka.

"Help me!" screamed Junko.

Junko continued to scream as the monkey carried while he swung through the trees from branch to branch.

"He's over there!" said the man with sunglasses.

"Oi, go catch it!" said the short man.

A/N Sheesh, did they ever give these guys names? Eh, whatever, they're only in this episode once so it doesn't really matter.

The three men broke into a run and trailed after the monkey. Shou, Momoe, Asuka, and Jaden ran after the men, confused with what they just heard.

"H-Hey, h-hold on!" yelled Shou. "What is all this?"

The group stopped in their tracks, the men having ignored them. Jaden, Asuka, and Momoe looked at Shou.

"I don't really know, but any rate, we have to save Junko," said Jaden.

With that said, the quartet trailed after the three men as they chased after the monkey and Junko. The monkey continued to swing from branch to branch as he carried Junko farther away into the forest.

"What's this about?" yelled Junko.

Few moments later…

The monkey held his arms up while he carried Junko over his head as he made his way across a pond by jumping from one rock to the next rock.

"Please, let me go!" yelled Junko.

A few more moments later…

The monkey ran out of the forest as he carried Junko over his head. Junko had her eyes closed throughout the whole time she was being carried off by the monkey.

"Let me go!" yelled Junko.

The monkey stopped running once he was on the trunk of crooked tree and began to lower Junko down, ignoring her as she pounded on him with her fists.

"Let me go!" yelled Junko.

Junko opened her eyes after a few moments when she realized that they've stopped moving. She looked down and saw that the crooked tree she and the monkey were on was at the edge of a cliff. Junko whimpered as she stared wide-eyed at the ocean that was right below her and the monkey. It was a very deep plunge from the tree down to the water…This scared Junko.

"No!" Junko shrieked as closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the monkey. "Don't let me go! I'm scared!"

A/N Anyone thinking '_Tarzan_' moment? I am!

Junko continued to cry out in fear as the three men whom her friends had encountered ran out of forest into view. The three men spotted the monkey and Junko, whom were at the edge of a cliff.

"It can't escape anymore!" said one of the men. "If you don't want to be shot by the tranquilizer, come back to us quietly!"

As if to show that they were serious, the man wearing black sunglasses aim his rifle at the monkey. Just then, Shou, Momoe, Asuka, and Jaden ran out of the forest and stopped a few feet away from the men. At that same time, the monkey took Junko's hands off of him and grabbed onto her arm with both of his hands as he pushed her slightly over the tree.

Junko looked down as the monkey held onto her arm to prevent her from falling off. Having been reminded of how far it was from where she was at to the bottom down, Junko closed her eyes and screamed.

"H-Help me, Asuka-san!" screamed Junko.

The tallest of the three men stared at the monkey and Junko.

"Tch…I can't believe he took a hostage so brazenly like that…" he said.

Jaden held up her fist as she stared at the men and said, "Better yet, just who are you guys?"

"Huh?" said Momoe, Shou, and Asuka.

Shou, Momoe, and Asuka looked at the monkey and noticed that he wore a duel disk on his left arm. Shou pulled on Jaden's sleeve and pointed at the monkey.

"Aniki, that monkey's wearing a duel disk!" said Shou.

The two other men overheard Shou and turned to him and the group. The shorter of the two spoke to them.

"That isn't just a mere monkey!" said the short man.

Asuka eyes widened slightly as the man continued his explanation.

"This is the dueling monkey that we've been putting a lot of effort into training!" the short man stated.

Jaden blinked a few times.

"A dueling monkey?" questioned Jaden.

"Right, and his name stands for 'Super Animal Learning', or SAL for short," explained the short man.

Shou looked at the monkey, SAL, and blinked a few times.

"Looks weak," remarked Shou.

The tallest of the three men looked at the short man.

"Doctor!" said the tall man.

The doctor looked up.

"Seems it was a slip of the tongue," said the doctor.

The doctor and the tall man turned around.

"Wait a sec!" said Jaden.

Both men turned around and looked at Jaden perplexed as she stepped up and jabbed her thumb at herself.

"Leave it to me!" said Jaden.

The doctor looked at Jaden, still perplexed.

"To you?" he questioned. "And what, pray tell, are you saying you can do?"

Jaden smiled.

"I'll decide things with a duel, of course," replied Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden.

"'Duel'?" repeated Shou. "Aniki, you couldn't…"

"Are you saying you're going to duel that monkey?" asked Asuka.

Jaden looked back at Asuka and grinned.

"I ain't saying I'm marrying it," Jaden said in a joking manner. "If you duel someone, your hearts would link up. Even if it's a monkey."

Jaden turned and started running towards the monkey.

"Oi, SAL!" she called out.

SAL looked back at Jaden.

"If you're a duelist, too, what do you say to settling things with a duel?" Jaden asked as she pointed at SAL.

SAL held Junko closer to himself as he continued to stare at Jaden. Shou looked at Jaden with awe.

"Amazing, Aniki…is having a conversation with him!" said Shou.

Momoe blinked a few times.

"Could that mean he's part monkey?" asked Momoe.

"I'm sure it's programmed to understand human speech, since he can even duel," said Asuka.

Jaden held up her fist and looked at SAL with a serious expression.

"If I win, you'll release that hostage!" said Jaden.

Junko looked at Jaden anxiously.

"A-And if you lose?" Junko asked nervously.

Jaden blinked a few times in question.

"If I lose?" Jaden said, realization slowly coming to her as she closed her eyes and scratched her head. "Oh, that's right…I didn't think of that…"

Junko sweat dropped as Momoe, Asuka, and Shou fell back anime-style. Jaden opened her eyes and stared at SAL.

"Okay, if I lose, you'll do what you want, SAL!" said Jaden.

Tears welded up in Junko's eyes from anxiety.

"No way!" cried Junko. "What's the point in that?"

"Don't sweat it, Junko!" reassured Jaden. "I'm going to win, without a doubt!"

SAL stared at Jaden for a few seconds before nodding and placing Junko down. Junko backed away from SAL as he walked away.

"He threatened me!" said Junko.

SAL hopped onto a rock and held out his left arm as his duel disk activated.

"He's up for it," said Asuka.

Jaden activated her duel disk as well and smiled at SAL while she reached for her deck.

"Now we're talking!" said Jaden.

The man with the tranquilizer rifle immediately took action and was about ready to pull the trigger.

"He released the hostage!" he exclaimed.

"Wait," said the doctor. "We may just get interesting data, so just let them do this."

The taller man looked at the doctor for a few seconds before focusing his gaze back on Jaden and SAL. Jaden drew her starting hand (5 cards) and stared at SAL, smiling.

"Let's go!" she said. "Duel!"

A sudden robotic voice responded back to Jaden and said, "Duel!"

What was astonishing about the voice was that it came off of SAL. Jaden's eyes widened as she let out a startled yell as Shou, Asuka, and Momoe stared at SAL.

"He spoke!" said Shou.

The doctor laughed at Shou's outburst.

"All of the dueling terminology has been programmed into him," explained the doctor.

Jaden blinked and grinned.

Jaden:

LP

4000

SAL:

LP

4000

"My turn!" Jaden said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at her card, which happened to be a monster card, specifically Elemental Hero Sparkman.

"Alright!" she thought before looking up, smiling. "First, I'll go with this guy!"

Jaden played Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode.

ATK1600

"I end my turn!" said Jaden. "Now, it's your turn next!"

Junko looked anxiously at Jaden as she gripped a tree branch and pulled herself up.

"I'm begging you!" pleaded Junko. "Hurry and save me!"

Shou cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Don't worry!" reassured Shou. "Right now, Aniki's doing his best to beat him, and he'll save you!"

Momoe clasped her hands together, staring out at Jaden with a concerned look in her eyes.

"That's only if he does…" said Momoe.

Shou blinked and looked at Momoe as SAL reached for his deck.

"It's my turn!" said SAL. "Draw!"

SAL looked at the card he drew. The helmet he wore showed him the card's ATK and DEF as well as his and his opponent's life points in the form of four bananas. SAL looked up as he played the card.

"I summon Berserk Gorilla!" said SAL.

A muscular, brown-furred gorilla pounded his fists on his chest as he roared before taking his offensive stance.

ATK 2000

Jaden's eyes widened at Berserk Gorilla's ATK.

"What?" exclaimed Jaden. "Berserk Gorilla's got 2000 ATK?"

"With Berserk Gorilla, I attack Sparkman!" said SAL.

Berserk Gorilla charged at Sparkman before punching the Elemental Hero into the air, destroying him. Jaden shielded herself as the aftermath blast took a toll on her life points.

Jaden:

LP

3600

SAL back-flipped three times on the rock he stood on before he picked a card from his hand.

"Next, I set a reversed card!" SAL said, placing the card face-down. "I end my turn!"

Jaden clenched her teeth as she growled slightly at SAL. Shou stared at Jaden, perplexed with what just happened.

"Huh?" said Shou. "He's doing Aniki in!"

"If you end up losing to that monkey, you'll be even more humiliated that you won't stand being at the Academy," remarked Asuka.

Jaden turned back and glared at Asuka and Shou.

"Quit it!" snapped Jaden. "The duel's just started! And who asked you?"

Jaden turned back to SAL.

"It's my turn!" she said, picking out card from her hand. "Draw!"

Jaden glanced at her card and smiled.

"_Okay, I'll use this!"_ Jaden thought before she held up the card and said, "I activate the Magic card, Polymerization! I fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix appeared on the field and spun around together in the same direction. This caused a whirlwind to form from the velocity they spun in around them. As the whirlwind began to clear, the effects of Polymerization had fused them together and formed Flame Wingman.

ATK 2100

Jaden tightened her fist as she looked at SAL, her expression serious.

"Take this!" Jaden said before she directed Wingman at Berserk Gorilla. "I use Flame Wingman to attack Berserk Gorilla! Flame Shoot!"

Flame Wingman aimed his right arm at Berserk Gorilla and shot out a fiery blast at the gorilla monster. Berserk Gorilla was destroyed by the blast, taking a small toll on SAL's life points.

SAL:

LP

3900

SAL chattered in his distinct vocalization, his tone a mixture of either shock or anger.

"It's too soon to get shocked!" said Jaden.

SAL looked at Jaden and made a perplexed sound. Jaden held her fist up as she explained.

"I activate Flame Wingman's special effect!" said Jaden. "The ATK of the monster destroyed in battle is dealt as damage to the player!"

Jaden pointed at SAL, who let out an astonished exclamation.

"Berserk Gorilla had 2000 ATK points…" said Shou. "That means…"

"His life is getting reduced by another 2000 points," Asuka finished for Shou.

SAL looked at Flame Wingman as he stood in front of the simian. Through SAL's eyes from behind the helmet, was Flame Wingman's right hand aimed at him, shooting a fiery blast that engulfed the monkey. SAL shrieked as the flames engulfed him while his life points were depleted.

SAL:

LP

1900

Jaden smiled and brought her fist down.

"Did you see that, SAL?" said Jaden.

SAL replied with a rather depressed 'ooki'. Jaden blinked and ceased her smile.

"What's this?" she asked. "Is he already worn out?"

Shou held his fist up as he looked at SAL, smiling.

"Just surrender and release Junko-san!" said Shou.

The doctor laughed quietly.

"To think he's underestimating his opponent because it's a monkey…" the doctor remarked, closing his eyes and looking down. "I think he'll be in for some pain."

Shou overheard and ceased his smiling as he stared at the doctor perplexed. The doctor turned to him and explained.

"Did you know that a monkey's ability to hear the voices or spirits is higher than that of a human's?" asked the doctor. "To that end, we used monkeys for our dueling animal experiments."

Asuka, Momoe, and Shou looked at the doctor perplexed.

"Animal experiment?" repeated Shou.

The tall man looked at the doctor, having heard what he just said.

"Doctor!" said the tall man.

"Oh, it seems my mouth opened up again…" the doctor said before turning back to the duel.

Jaden looked at SAL perplexed.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You already surrendering?"

SAL held his fist up as he bared his teeth at Jaden, somewhat angered.

"It's my turn!" said SAL. "Draw!"

SAL drew a card and glanced at it, earning a smile from Jaden. Jaden held up her fist and laughed a bit as she smiled.

"That's the spirit!" said Jaden. "Now, bring it, SAL! Let's do this!"

SAL played the card in his hand.

"I summon Acrobat Monkey!" said SAL.

A monkey-like monster in what seemed to be robotic armor appeared on SAL's side of the field after flipping a few times into the air. As his named implied, the way he appeared on the field was like that of an acrobat. Acrobat Monkey landed on his feet, facing Jaden and Flame Wingman.

ATK 1000

"Next, I open my reversed card!" said SAL. "I activate the Trap card, DNA Surgery!"

SAL turned the face-down card on his field over as Jaden's eyes widened in shock. Knowledge of what she learned during the past years from focusing on dueling and such popped up into mind.

"Did you say 'DNA Surgery'?" exclaimed Jaden. "Isn't that the card that changes all monsters' types to the one you choose?"

The time Jaden used her knowledge of cards was not during classes, this was either ironic or her preference of using her knowledge. Though, since this was Jaden, it probably had to do with both and some part involving her father like how she knew about the Millennium Items.

"_Things I find useful only when I'm doing things dad doesn't approve of…"_ thought Jaden. _"Wonder how dad will react if he ever found out…"_

Jaden shuddered slightly at the thought of what could happen. It involved getting grounded, no dueling for a month, and/or choosing her choice of clothes when they went on their monthly clothes shopping and such…something to which Jaden would just rummage through the aisles and grab clothes off a random rack. The quicker she bought her clothes, the faster she and her dad could go to the card shop.

More to the point and off that subject, SAL held up the card, DNA Surgery, as he called out his monster-type of choice.

"Beast-type!" said SAL.

At that motion, both Acrobat Monkey and Elemental Hero Flame Wingman grew beast-like features to match their recently changed monster type. Both monsters growled and bared their teeth at each other. Jaden stared at Flame Wingman in awe at his type transformation.

SAL picked a card out of his hand and held it out.

"Next, the Magic card, Wild Nature's Release!" said SAL.

Asuka stared at the card SAL held in his hand, memories of the card's effect popped up in mind.

"Wild Nature's Release…" said Asuka. "If I remember correctly, that card raises the ATK of one face-up Beast-type or Beast-Warrior-type monster on the field…by an amount equal to that monster's DEF."

Shou continued to watch the duel as he heard Asuka explain the card's effect.

"Just one Beast-type…" Shou said, his eyes widening as realization struck him. "T-Then…!"

"Acrobat Monkey!" said SAL.

Acrobat Monkey's eyes turned yellow as he looked up and held out his arms. He growled aggressively before hollering out loudly as his robotic armor started to crack and break off his body. His armor was completely gone, save for the helmet on his head.

"Acrobat Monkey has 1800 DEF points!" said Shou. "So, that means…he has 2800 ATK?"

Acrobat Monkey tightened his fists and pounded on his chest before screeching out loud as his ATK increased.

ATK: Previously, 1000

Now…2800!

Jaden's eyes widened.

"W-What?" exclaimed Jaden. _"Aw, crap…"_

"Acrobat Monkey's attack!" said SAL. "Acrobat Ooki!"

Acrobat Monkey screeched in an aggressive manner as he beat his chest with his fists a few times. Afterwards, he held his hands together and brought them down, now spinning rapidly towards Flame Wingman in a wheel-like motion. Acrobat Monkey stopped spinning and slammed his clasped fists over Flame Wingman once he was in front of the Elemental Hero. The assault destroyed the Elemental Hero, the aftermath now taking a toll on Jaden's life points.

Jaden clenched her teeth as she winced from the aftermath shock.

Jaden:

LP

2900

Jaden opened one eye while she clenched her teeth, staring at SAL and Acrobat Monkey. Acrobat Monkey placed his hands on his head in an agonizing manner before he was destroyed. Shou and Momoe watched the duel, both surprised and confused with Acrobat Monkey's sudden destruction. Asuka crossed her arms as she kept her gaze focused on the duel.

"The attacking monster got destroyed, too!" exclaimed Shou.

"The monster affected by Wild Nature's Release is destroyed that same turn," said Asuka.

The part on SAL's helmet covering his eyes glowed red as he spoke.

"I end my turn!" said SAL.

* * *

~meanwhile in class~

Daitokuji, with Pharaoh in his arms, stared questioningly at his class, having noticed a few absences after seeing the empty seats. Normally, he wouldn't mind the absences, but when he realized that Jaden and Asuka happened to have been some of them, something wasn't quite right. Asuka had never missed a day of class and, despite having a habit of sleeping through class; Jaden was surprisingly always present up to this point…the only exception being her suspension from classes.

Had it not been for the absences of three certain students, Daitokuji would have just continued classes and question the absentees after classes. However, since Shou, Junko, and Momoe were also gone, there was no mistaking that something was wrong. Pharaoh meowed as if to catch the attention of the professor.

Daitokuji gazed down at Pharaoh before looking around the class. Having noticed another absence, he got a feeling that the sudden absences all were connected in some way. He focused his gaze on Daichi after spotting the Ra Yellow's slightly flustered state.

Memories of yesterday's events popped up in mind as Daitokuji remembered waking up to a loud, high-pitched scream followed by yelling that seemed to have been coming from Jaden's room, having heard some complaints from the Osiris Red residents. Along with that, he seemed to recall having heard from Hayato after questioning the koala-resembling boy for the sudden wake-up call about a dorm change test involving Daichi Misawa and Jun Manjoume.

Seeing as it was Manjoume that was one of the absentees, Daitokuji decided to question the one who had caused yesterday's wake-up call. Wearing his usual smile, Daitokuji laughed mentally as he remembered that Daichi had just recently discovered Jaden's true gender during the time the Ra Yellow had spent with the Osiris Red trio in their room.

Daichi felt as if someone was staring at him and looked up from his work. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face when he realized that Daitokuji was looking at him, smiling. This didn't look good…

Few moments later,

Daitokuji stood in the hall after giving his class an early dismissal, one to which Daichi knew that he was screwed…figuratively. And he was right as he stood in front of Daitokuji in the hallway.

"Misawa-kun, would you care to explain Yuki-kun's absence-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Daichi looked at Daitokuji, somewhat nervous as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Remembering what Jaden had told him, the Ra Yellow cleared his throat and answered the professor's question.

"Jaden wasn't feeling well and went back to the Osiris Red dorms," replied Daichi.

Daitokuji petted Pharaoh as he listened to Daichi. He arched his eyebrow at the Ra Yellow.

"Is that so-nya?" asked Daitokuji. "What about Marufuji-kun?"

Daichi blinked and tried not answer quickly as he said, "Shou went with her."

Daitokuji nodded and adjusted his glasses.

"I see you've found out about Jaden-kun's gender-nya," said Daitokuji. "This wouldn't happen to be involved with yesterday's scream, would it-nya?"

Daichi looked nervously at Daitokuji. This wasn't how he had planned would happen…hell, he didn't even get that far after making the excuse thanks to the fact that Daitokuji had entered the class moments after Jaden and Shou had ran out of class. When Asuka, Momoe, and Junko had left, Daichi didn't know, but all he knew is that it was either sometime after or before Jaden and Shou had left.

"Misawa-kun," said Daitokuji.

Daichi snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at Daitokuji.

"I know what happened yesterday-nya," said Daitokuji.

Daichi was taken aback as he stared at Daitokuji, flustered.

"Y-Y-You do?" stuttered Daichi.

Daitokuji nodded as Pharaoh meowed and jumped out of his arms. Daichi rubbed the back of his head as he looked down sheepishly.

"About that incident…it was an accident," said Daichi. "I didn't know—"

"It's all right, I'll let it slide…" reassured Daitokuji.

Daichi let out a mushroom sigh in relief only for his bubble to be burst by Daitokuji.

"…this time," added Daitokuji. "I can't exactly let this happen to my female student-nya. I'm expected to keep this from happening to her…especially if it's from a male student-nya."

Daichi blinked a few times as Daitokuji looked at him with a serious expression.

"Don't let it happen again," said Daitokuji. "Is that clear?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Daichi's face as he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat before he nodded. Daitokuji quickly changed his serious expression to his usual one.

"Okay, now tell me…where are Yuki-kun and Marufuji-kun-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Daichi, out of options and ideas, sighed and decided to give in seeing as Daitokuji already knew about yesterday's events, anyways.

"They went searching for Manjoume," said Daichi. "That's all I know."

Daitokuji nodded in approval as Pharaoh rubbed against his leg. Daichi sighed and rubbed his temples.

"May I leave?" asked Daichi.

"Certainly-nya," said Daitokuji.

With that said, Daichi walked away from Daitokuji and made his way back to his dorm. During this, the Ra Yellow made a mental note to start thinking up excuses if this ever happened again. The last thing he needed is another confrontation with Daitokuji…

Daitokuji watched as Daichi walked away before focusing his attention on Pharaoh, who seemed to be trying to catch his attention. Pharaoh meowed as Daitokuji bent down to pick him up.

"What is it, Pharaoh?" asked Daitokuji.

Whatever Pharaoh was trying to tell him, Daitokuji had a feeling it had to do with his absentees and Manjoume. Standing up straight, Daitokuji made his way down out of the Main Academy Building with Pharaoh in his arms.

* * *

~back to the duel~

Both SAL and Jaden stared at one another for a few seconds before Jaden reached for her deck.

"My turn!" said Jaden. "Draw!"

Jaden glanced at her card, determination in her eyes as well as slight stubbornness (A/N Yuki-kun does not give up!). She looked up at SAL.

"_I'll give him not surrendering and giving me a challenge,"_ thought Jaden. _"But unfortunately, this is the end. This turn will decide it all."_

Jaden held up the card in her hand.

"Alright, here goes!" she said, about ready to play her card when sudden sounds and slight rustling caught her by surprise.

The sounds were close by… In fact, they were coming from behind some boulders that were just a few feet away from Jaden and SAL. Behind the boulders were a group of monkeys, all peering out from behind their hiding place wearing concerned expressions and making anxious sounds.

Momoe and Shou gasped as they stared wide-eyed at the monkeys while Asuka looked perplexed.

"Huh?" said Shou. "There's a lot of monkeys!"

"Are we going to be attacked?" exclaimed Momoe.

The two men and the doctor stared wide-eyed at the group of monkeys in shock.

"What's this?" asked the tall man.

Jaden stared at the group of monkeys, her mouth opened slightly in wonder. She blinked once before hearing a 'kuri kuri' from her favorite partner. She turned her head to see Winged Kuriboh floating in the air right by her.

"Kuri kuri," said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden blinked again as she interpreted what Winged Kuriboh had told her.

"O-Oh, I get it," said Jaden. "Is that what this is?"

Jaden turned her head to SAL.

"You escaped from the research lab because you wanted to go back to your friends, didn't you?" asked Jaden.

SAL tightened his fist and let out a loud 'ooki' in reply to Jaden's question. The tone he answered was a quite obvious 'yes'. With what they just heard, Shou, Asuka, and Momoe felt a newfound sympathy for the dueling monkey (3).

"So, he wants to go back to his friends…" said Momoe.

Shou frowned.

"But if Aniki wins, he'll go back to the research lab…" said Shou. "I can't help but feel sorry for him…"

Asuka kept her expression serious despite her newfound sympathy for SAL.

"I know, but we can't just leave Junko there," said Asuka.

Asuka, Momoe, and Shou directed their gaze on Junko, who stared out from where she was with a sad look in her eyes.

"If we let SAL go back to his friends, we can't save Junko-san…" said Shou. "If we save Junko-san, SAL can't go back to his friends…"

Shou placed his hands on his head and closed his eyes as he groaned in aggravation. Either outcome to the dilemma he had stated out would only benefit to one being. With that fact realized, Shou was beyond confused and wanted nothing more than a solution.

"Man, just what do we do?" wailed Shou.

Asuka focused her gaze on Jaden.

"_In a case like this, how would you plan on handling this?"_ thought Asuka.

Jaden looked at SAL with a serious expression. Having heard Shou, she was also aware of the dilemma. However, being the one dueling SAL made it even harder for her to decide whether to lose and let the monkey go back to his friends, but in return, she can't save Junko or win the duel and save Junko, but with the expense of sending SAL back to the research lab away from his friends. Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place…

The gender-mistaken girl sighed and kept her gaze focused on SAL. There was only one thing she had to do, whether she liked it or not.

"I'm sorry, SAL, but a duel is always a serious game," Jaden said, closing her eyes. "Once a duel's started, we can't hold back, no matter what the reason."

Jaden opened her eyes and held up a card in her hand.

"I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in attack mode!" said Jaden.

The golem-like Elemental Hero appeared on the field.

ATK 800

"Due to the permanent Trap, DNA Surgery, Clayman becomes a Beast-type!" said SAL.

Yellow energy appeared on Clayman, causing the Elemental Hero to grow animalistic-features. Jaden held a card in her hand as she stared at SAL, determination in her eyes.

"So what?" she asked. "I'm ending this battle right here! I activate the Magic card, Life-Risking Change! I choose one monster with 1000 or less ATK on my field, and pay 1000 life points."

Jaden:

LP

1900

SAL bared his teeth at Jaden as he tightened his fist.

"When battle damage is dealt to the opposing player, the attacking monster's DEF is added to that amount!" explained Jaden. "Here goes, SAL! With Elemental Hero Clayman, I attack directly!"

Jaden held her fist up as she ordered Clayman to attack.

"Take this!" said Jaden. "Clay Knuckle!"

Clayman tightened his fists and sent a punch right at SAL. The punch went right through SAL, causing his life points to decrease slightly.

SAL:

LP

1100

Jaden smiled as she continued on with her attack.

"Next up, with Life-Risking Change's effect, Clayman's 2000 DEF is added to that damage!" said Jaden.

SAL fell onto his knees despondently, his hands on the rock he was on as he panted heavily. Through his helmet, the last of the four bananas representing his life points faded away while his opponent still had half of hers left. A small buzzer sounded as the image of a sad monkey face with the words 'GAME OVER' appeared, notifying him of his defeat.

Shou, Asuka, and Momoe all smiled at Jaden's victory.

"Aniki won!" said Shou.

Jaden placed her hand on her hip as she looked at SAL.

"Well, we promised!" said Jaden. "Time to release Junko!"

SAL stared at Jaden for a few seconds before turning around and walking over to Junko. Junko let out a startled shriek as SAL picked her up and carried her over a few feet away from the tree she was previously on. SAL then lowered her onto the ground, to which Junko immediately got up and ran towards Asuka. Asuka smiled and ran towards Junko.

"Junko!" said Asuka.

Momoe and Shou trailed after Asuka as Junko latched onto the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue.

"Asuka-san!" Junko cried out. "Momoe!"

Jaden stared at the Obelisk Blue trio as she kept her hand on her hip, smiling. Shou stopped by Jaden's side.

"Junko-san, you're safe now," said Momoe.

Shou smiled at Jaden and gave her a thumbs-up. Junko blinked and turned to face Jaden.

"Thanks for saving me, but…" said Junko.

The Duel Academy students turned their gaze on SAL, remembering that in return for Junko, he had to go back to the research lab.

"That monkey's going back to the research lab, isn't he?" asked Junko.

SAL murmured in a depressed tone as the three men from the research lab started walking towards him and the group.

"Well done," said the tallest man from the research lab. "Leave the rest to us!"

Jaden clenched her teeth and ran in front of SAL with her arms held out open to block the three men from the research lab.

"Hey, hold it!" yelled Jaden.

The three men listened and did as they were told by Jaden, though it was out of curiosity and amusement to what the gender-mistaken girl was doing.

"Don't get the wrong idea!" said Jaden. "I said he'd release the hostage if I won the duel, _but_… I didn't say he'd go back to the research lab!"

The three men looked at Jaden, baffled to what she said actually was true. Somehow, Jaden managed to find a loophole to her proposition with SAL if he lost. Jaden diverted her eyes at SAL as she smiled.

"That monkey's going to be back in the forest with his friends," said Jaden.

SAL let out an astonished 'ooki', having been shocked by Jaden's sudden willingness to keep him from going back to the research lab. Shou smiled and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Yo!" Shou called out. "That's Aniki, all right! That's the way!"

Asuka smiled, as did Momoe and Junko.

"That's an ending you'd come up with," said Asuka.

Momoe nodded.

"He's got a good point, surprisingly," remarked Momoe.

"An Osiris Red, huh?" said Junko.

"He's interfering!" said the man with the tranquilizer rifle.

The man with the tranquilizer rifle and his taller accomplice, whom now had a net in his hands, shoved Jaden out of the way as they made their way towards SAL. Jaden, having fallen onto the ground rear-first from being shoved by the men from the research lab, rubbed her backside as she got off the ground. Her eyes widened when she heard SAL shrieked and turned only to see a net thrown onto the poor monkey.

"SAL!" exclaimed Jaden.

SAL struggled within the net as both men restrained him. Jaden clenched her teeth and tightened her fists as she glared at the men, shaking in anger.

"Shit…" Jaden cursed as she continued to scowl at the men.

Jaden was enraged up to the point where she didn't notice the doctor, whom was walking right past her until he spoke.

"If you want him back with his friends so much, we could do that…" said the doctor.

Jaden blinked and ceased her scowling as she looked at the doctor, perplexed.

"Huh?" said Jaden.

The doctor walked up to his assistants, the tallest one of them holding up SAL within the net. The assistant with the tranquilizer rifle kept his gaze on SAL incase he had to resort to shooting the monkey with a tranquilizer.

"However, they will be in my research lab!" the doctor said, looking back at Jaden.

Jaden's eyes widened.

"What?" she exclaimed.

The doctor turned around and looked at the monkeys behind the boulders, his hands behind his back.

"Catch all the other monkeys!" said the doctor.

The assistant wearing black sunglasses aimed his tranquilizer rifle at the monkeys.

"We _are_ short on animals to experiment on, after all," the doctor added.

The assistant with the tranquilizer rifle was about ready to pull the trigger when a very familiar tabby cat intervened. The cat jumped off from the ground and yowled as he pounced on the man's head, hitting him right in the eyes. The man grunted and dropped the tranquilizer rifle as the cat jumped off him before placing his hand on his eyes.

The tabby cat landed on the ground on his feet like any other cat would (4) and walked over to where a very familiar man, specifically a professor, stood. Seeing as there was only one professor in Duel Academy who owned a cat, the person was without a doubt Daitokuji. Daitokuji knelt down to pick up his cat as he praised the feline.

"Great work, Pharaoh," Daitokuji said as he lifted Pharaoh off the ground. "You're my pet, after all-nya!"

Pharaoh meowed while Daitokuji petted his head as he carried the tabby cat in his arms. Jaden, Shou, Asuka, Momoe, and Junko stared wide-eyed at the professor as he walked towards the three men from the research lab.

"Daitokuji-sensei!" they exclaimed.

The doctor stared at Daitokuji as he walked over to the tranquilizer rifle.

"Who are you?" asked the doctor.

Daitokuji stopped in front of the tranquilizer rifle.

"If this goes public, you would be the embarrassed ones, wouldn't you-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Daitokuji moved his foot under the tranquilizer rifle and kicked it up into the air. He caught the rifle with his right hand as he held Pharaoh in his left arm. He kept his usual smile as he looked at the three men.

"You'll be charged with animal cruelty, you know," remarked Daitokuji.

The doctor scowled at Daitokuji, his eye twitching slightly as he gritted his teeth.

A few moments later…

The men from the research lab had left, leaving everyone in peace. Robotic armor lied on the ground in front of SAL, having taken it off save for the duel disk on his arm. He turned around and scampered over to the group of monkeys by the boulders. Daitokuji and his students watched as SAL and his friends all made rather happy sounds, having been reunited.

"They all look so happy," Shou said, smiling.

"Thank goodness," said Junko.

Jaden grinned and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Let's duel again sometime!" said Jaden.

SAL grinned as he held up his left arm where his duel disk resided. Jaden winked and pointed two fingers at SAL as she smiled.

"Gotcha!" said Jaden. "That was a fun duel!"

SAL waved good-bye at Jaden.

"Don't get caught again!" said Jaden. "See ya!"

With that said, SAL and his friends scampered off into the forest. Momoe looked at Daitokuji.

"At any rate, I wonder what would've happened to us if Daitokuji-sensei didn't show up right then," said Momoe.

Shou, Junko, Asuka, and Jaden turned their heads to Daitokuji.

"Thank you very much," said Asuka.

Daitokuji continued to pet Pharaoh as he held the cat in his arms.

"No, I didn't do anything," said Daitokuji. "Please, say that to Pharaoh instead of me-nya."

Pharaoh meowed as if in response. Jaden looked at Daitokuji questioningly.

"Still, why did you come here, sensei?" asked Jaden.

Daitokuji looked at Jaden, wearing his usual smile.

"A little birdie told me you were looking for Manjoume-kun-nya," said Daitokuji.

Jaden blinked a few times before realizing who Daitokuji was referring to. Narrowing her eyes, Jaden made a mental note to pay her rival a visit. Daitokuji placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder, startling the gender-mistaken girl slightly.

"Speaking of Manjoume-kun, I found him-nya," said Daitokuji.

Jaden blinked and smiled.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "Really?"

Shou smiled.

"Thank goodness!" said Shou.

Both Momoe and Junko laughed while Asuka just smiled. Daitokuji smiled nervously as he continued on.

"But he's no longer on this island-nya…" Daitokuji added a bit nervously.

Jaden ceased her smiling and blinked.

Sometime later by the docks,

Daitokuji and his students all stared out at the ocean from the docks.

"To tell you the truth, I noticed it earlier, too," said Daitokuji. "And after hearing that you were searching for him as well, I went to find Manjoume-kun myself-nya…"

* * *

~flashback~

_Manjoume stood on his family's yacht, staring out at Duel Academy with determination._

"Just you watch…it won't end like this,"_ thought Manjoume._

_Daitokuji watched as the yacht sailed off into the ocean._

~end of flashback~

* * *

Shou, Momoe, Asuka, Junko, and Jaden all stared out into the ocean.

"So, that's it, huh?" asked Jaden.

"Manjoume-kun left the island…" said Shou.

Momoe placed her finger on her lips.

"Manjoume-san…" Momoe said.

Jaden turned around quickly and smiled as she tightened her fists.

"Don't worry!" reassured Jaden. "I know he'll come back!"

Shou nodded and replied, "Yeah, he will!"

Asuka nodded as Jaden turned around and stared out at the ocean again.

"I know Manjoume's looking at this same sky, too!" said Jaden.

Shou narrowed his eyes and stared at Jaden.

"Aniki, you're showing off too much," said Shou.

Jaden blinked and looked at Shou.

"Huh?" she said. "Really?"

Jaden smiled and laughed, her friends and Daitokuji joining in her laughter.

* * *

A/N End of chapter. *walks in wearing Limey Man shirt* I FINALLY updated and I'm FINALLY wearing the YGO TAS shirt I got at the Anime Expo on July 2! BTW, if you were there, I was the Yuki Nagato in a maid outfit with a red camera…why did I choose that for my cosplay? Well, Kami-sama (me in Haruhi Suzumiya cosplay with the nickname 'Kami-sama' given to me by friends) wanted to take a break, so I decided to break in my new cosplay outfit and wig.

Anyways, It's been two weeks and I know I probably irritated some of you guys—*dodges stuff thrown at from angry readers* Okay! I know, I was supposed to have had this chapter up two weeks ago, but I got sidetracked with the yaoi manga (_Oh My God!_) I bought as well as the first four volumes of _Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist_ manga…oh, and of course the prime suspect of this late update… me watching a _BioShock 2_ walkthrough. Hey! It's not my fault the game has such a good plot! Of course, it is my fault for getting into the game, but I don't resent…I only resent not updating this chapter two weeks ago. In compensation to this lateness, more chapters have been updated today, so keep reading and you know the drill! Also…read the first review to this chapter and you have to watch episode 11 of DarkSideIncorporated's _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_ the Abridged series to get it!

Oh, and since this is the 10th chapter, I'd like to give a shout out to my favorite faithful reviewers who have stuck with me this far!

**PrincessAnime08**, **Yuri n' Chuka**, **Hippi the headgehog112 **who made a rather interesting story to how Manjoume finds out Jaden's true gender…don't worry, she had my permission, **Hestic**, **heartlessneko** I'm keeping an eye on you for watermelons and pointing out my references! Okay, where was I…**Lightmagegirl4437**,** XRarityoftearsX**, **A Neverending Dream of Flight** whom I'm glad decided to stick to the story, and **digiwriter1392**.

(1) Just an excuse to finally use the word espionage. Heh, heh…

(2) The badly drawn bush that was pointed out in my favorite _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_ Abridged series.

(3) Not to be mistaken with the name Seto Kaiba once called Katsuya Jounouchi in the dub!

(4) Depends if that theory happens to be true. I would try it on my cat, but I don't want to be scratched! That cat is evil…ish! He used to attack me for no apparent reason when I went into the garage when he was a kitten!

That's it! Continue onto the next chappie!


	11. Turn 11

Chapter Eleven

Where Has the Occult Gone Wrong?

It had almost been a month since Manjoume had left Duel Academy. During that time, Jaden's room was about done, though that was just for the room itself and not the bathhouse. The bathhouse construction wouldn't start until after the room was finished, but with it being winter, the process was once again postponed for a few days to give the workers their much needed time off.

Though Jaden didn't exactly mind seeing as with winter there's winter vacation, during which most of the students went back home. The island was practically a ghost town due to the majority of the students that were gone. For those who haven't left, the place was an awesome environment where one can duel whenever and wherever as much as they wanted, as stated by Jaden herself.

Aside from that and back to the point where Jaden's tolerance on her postponed room construction, with an almost empty dorm save for her, Shou, Hayato, and Daitokuji, who needed a room when you could sleep anywhere you want in the dining hall? Not them, that's who! And what better way to use the _Twilight_ manga volume that Jaden had received from her father than as marshmallow fire (1) to make s'mores…or just toast them to their preferences!

The suggestion of the alternate use of the book came from Daitokuji after hearing her shriek and seeing her practically throw the book across the room moments after she received the package from her father, which was most likely done as a joke. However, since they happened to have lacked marshmallows and the condiments to make s'mores, they had to wait until the tomorrow when Tome opened the store. Either way, as long as Jaden got rid of that book, she was good. The last thing she needed was a reminder of how vampires were sparkling in the sun when they were supposed to _burn_…like how the book would be doing in fire tomorrow.

Anyways…at this current moment, it was nighttime and it had just begin snowing outside. Within the dining room, tables were pushed aside to make room for Jaden and Shou's current duel. Meanwhile by the grill, Hayato and Daitokuji were grilling mochi rice cakes while Pharaoh watched curiously as the rice cakes puffed up from the heat.

A/N I looked up what they were cooking and what seemed to resemble the most were rice cakes, so yeah…don't question me and my will to research things before I type them! It's a quirk that makes me somewhat of a perfectionist since I have to make sure it's correct!

Jaden held up a card as it was now her turn and she was about ready to summon her golem-like Elemental Hero.

"I summon Clayman in attack mode!" said Jaden.

Clayman appeared on Jaden's side of the field, crouching slightly to avoid hitting the ceiling. Shou smiled as he stood on the opposite side of the field with Cycroid and Gyroid out in attack mode. Hayato and Daitokuji watched the Osiris Reds duel as they held a small plate in one hand and a pair of chopsticks in the other. Pharaoh meowed as the rice cake on the grill was left unattended to. As a result from the heat, it puffed up and popped, startling Pharaoh as his fur bristled up while he let out a yowl.

"I use Clayman to attack!" said Jaden.

* * *

Meanwhile in the forest,

An Obelisk Blue student with shoulder-length brown hair and square-lensed glasses ran through the dark forest as fast as he can away from something. He was beyond exhaustion, yet he continued to run. As he continued doing so, he realized that he was close to reaching his limits, much to his horror. Taking a deep breath, he yelled out as loud as he can.

"_Help me_!" he yelled loudly.

The boy's voice echoed through the forest.

* * *

Back in the Dining Hall,

Hayato tossed the rice cake he had just finished taking off the grill in his hands as he tried to cool it off.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot…" said Hayato.

Meanwhile outside, the Obelisk Blue student began to near the Osiris Red dorms. Back inside, Hayato ripped the rice cake he finished cooling off in half and placed one of the halves in his mouth and started chewing. Daitokuji used his chopsticks to eat his grilled rice cake while Pharaoh watched curiously him and meowed.

Back outside once more, the Obelisk Blue student slowed his pace, unable to run anymore. He was breathing heavily as he tried to reach for the dining hall door.

"S-Someone…" he managed to gasp out before collapsing and crashing into the dining hall.

CRASH!

Jaden and Shou gasped and stared wide-eyed at the Obelisk Blue who had just finished crashing through the door, creaking glass. Daitokuji and Hayato, having heard the Osiris Red duo gasp and of course heard the crash, looked over at the Obelisk Blue student on the floor.

"W-What the—!" said Shou.

Jaden blinked and walked over to the student by Shou.

"What the heck?" Jaden asked. "What happened?"

The Obelisk Blue student opened his eyes slightly as he carefully looked up at Jaden to avoid the sharp glass from pricking him. His body shook from exhaustion as he tried to keep his head up.

"P-Psycho Shocker's…" the Obelisk Blue managed to say.

Jaden blinked as the Obelisk Blue trailed off.

"What about Psycho Shocker?" she asked.

The Obelisk Blue managed to push himself off the ground a bit while avoiding the pieces of sharp glass.

"H-He's after me!" said the Obelisk Blue.

Jaden blinked and looked at Shou, perplexed as Hayato, Daitokuji, and Pharaoh walked over to them.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "What gibberish is he talking about?"

Daitokuji looked at the Obelisk Blue student, finding the boy familiar.

"You're Takadera-kun from Obelisk Blue, aren't you-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Takadera looked at Daitokuji, somewhat relieved, though yet, still frightened. He carefully crawled over to the professor and latched onto his legs with his hands.

"Daitokuji-sensei!" exclaimed Takadera. "A professor that…that researches Duel Spirits like you, Daitokuji-sensei, would understand, wouldn't you?"

Hayato, Shou, and Jaden all diverted their eyes on Daitokuji.

"Duel Spirits?" questioned Jaden.

Daitokuji knelt down and placed his hands on Takadera's shoulders.

"Please, calm down-nya, Takadera-kun," said Daitokuji. "Tell us everything from the beginning-nya."

Takadera nodded.

"Y-Yes," he said, remembering the past events. "It happened a while before winter vacation started. We Takadera Occult Brothers—"

Jaden blinked owlishly and looked at Takadera.

"Takadera Occult Brothers?" she said questioningly.

"It's a group that I, Mukouda, and Isaka, all of us being Obelisk Blues, made to research aspects of occult dueling," explained Takadera. "In particular, we researched what you'd call the origins of dueling: spirits. And, on that day, we decided to put what we'd researched to the test and contacted a spirit using an Ouija Board."

Memories of Takadera, Mukouda, and Isaka placing their hands on the Ouija Board's planchette popped up in Takadera's mind. The voices of their chanting echoed in his head.

"_O Psycho Shocker!"_ Takadera, Mukouda, and Isaka chanted. _"Please heed our call!"_

Takadera trembled as he remembered what happened next. Some books falling off of the shelves in the library he, Mukouda, and Isaka were in before the planchette on the Ouija Board moved over to a letter as it began to spell out its message.

"'Offer me three sacrifices'," Takadera said, remembering the message. "'If you do, I will be reborn,' his message read."

Daitokuji looked at Takadera with a somber expression.

"How awful…" Daitokuji said, "You shouldn't have gone into researching both Duel Spirits and phenomena-nya…"

Shou looked questioningly at Takadera.

"Hey, how did you and the others answer, Takadera-kun?" asked Shou.

Takadera looked at Shou and answered, "'We understand'."

Shou's eyes widened as he exclaimed.

"Huh?" exclaimed Shou.

"We thought he meant sacrificing cards!" Takadera said, looking down afterwards. "And yet…"

Shou looked at Takadera perplexed.

"Huh?" said Shou. "You don't mean…"

"The next day, one of our members, Mukouda, vanished without a trace," said Takadera. "And the day after, Isaka… Both of them were offered as sacrifices!"

Shou fell back onto the floor rear-first and whimpered in fright. He looked over at Jaden, whom caught his look and said, "Touch me and the glasses are mine."

Whether she said that to ease the tension or meant that, either way, it didn't matter. Jaden and Hayato looked at each other before turning back to Takadera.

"You sure they didn't just go home for winter vacation?" asked Jaden.

"I called both of their houses, but I was told they hadn't returned…" Takadera replied as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "I became afraid, so I planned to leave on today's ferry. When I did…"

Takadera told them about the man in the trench coat he saw on the ferry.

"That had to be…Psycho Shocker!" said Takadera.

Daitokuji placed his hand on his chin as Takadera began to hyperventilate. Jaden stared at Takadera in thought.

"_Psycho Shocker's spirit…"_ thought Jaden.

Suddenly, the lights went out, scaring the crap out of Shou, Hayato, and Pharaoh. As always in terror, both Hayato and Shou resorted to clinging onto female roommate, not minding whatsoever of how she felt about it. Jaden clenched her teeth as her roommates were practically crushing her.

"Shou, Hayato, let go of me, or I'll get crushed!" said Jaden. "Get off—gyaah!"

Jaden shrieked as she felt something press against her chest. This in turned, startled Pharaoh and caused the cat to let out a frightened yowl, which scared Hayato and Shou. Hayato and Shou screamed and tightened their grip on Jaden. Unbeknownst to Shou and Hayato when they clung onto their female roommate, their arms had managed to press against the area where Hayato's usual somewhat brotherly-like teasing was aimed at. And since they tightened their hold on Jaden, this caused her to shriek out again.

"Gyaah!" shrieked Jaden.

Daitokuji, having been the only adult in the situation, tried to calm down his students. He wondered why Jaden was acting differently. Had the lights been on, he would've known why by the blush that tainted her cheeks.

"Please, calm down-nya!" said Daitokuji.

"How the hell am I supposed to calm down?" snapped Jaden.

The fact that her friends clung onto her tightly was one, but involving her poorly-endowed chest was where it crossed the line. Jaden didn't care if was on accident! Insulting it was one matter that she'd learn to ignore or just snap back at, but touching it was a whole different matter since _this_ was _physical_.

"Who the hell is touching my chest!" yelled Jaden.

Apparently, this got Shou and Hayato's attention as they both let go of their female roommate. As Jaden was about to recover from her flustered state her friends accidentally caused her, a sudden tall figure clad in a trench coat and hat appeared in front of the group. Jaden's moment of relief was cut short as Shou and Hayato clung onto her again in the same manner they had done earlier. Jaden shrieked and blushed as her friends screamed.

"Quit doing that!" shrieked Jaden.

Jaden's reaction startled Pharaoh, causing his fur to puff out and bristled in fright. The tabby cat screeched and jumped into Daitokuji's arms. Despite the current situation, Daitokuji was someone who stuck with his job when it involved his only female Osiris Red student. Having been told by Samejima himself to keep an eye on Jaden, Daitokuji decided to remind Hayato and Shou that their roommate was still female.

"Maeda-kun!" said Daitokuji. "Marufuji-kun! Stop sexually harassing your roommate!"

Both Hayato and Shou reacted negatively to this outburst and immediately let go of Jaden, their faces burning red with embarrassment. It was bad enough that they were just reminded of their roommate's gender, but having it pointed out by Daitokuji in a misunderstanding remark just made the situation even more awkward. Jaden distanced herself slightly away from her roommates and covered her chest with her arms.

"Please don't do that again," said Jaden.

Jaden blinked and snapped back into reality as she and the group remembered the current situation. They turned their gaze back on the figure in the trench coat, who had been watching the group's reaction to his presence followed by the 'supposed' harassment on the gender-mistaken girl in amusement. The group all looked at the figure in the trench coat. The figure was male due to his stature and build, though that didn't matter since he had Takadera!

"Y-You're—" Jaden stuttered, trailing off.

"P-Psycho Shocker!" finished Shou.

The man in the trench coat turned and ran away from the group with Takadera. Jaden blinked and ran after man as he made his way towards the forest.

"Hold it!" yelled Jaden.

Shou called out to Jaden as he trailed after her.

"W-Wait, Aniki!" shouted Shou.

Hayato, Daitokuji, and Pharaoh followed Shou and Jaden.

"Jaden!" yelled Hayato.

"Jaden-kun!" yelled Daitokuji.

Jaden picked up the pace as the man entered the forest.

"Hold it!" Jaden yelled as she entered the forest.

Jaden continued to chase after the man in the trench coat.

"_That black coat…"_ she thought. _"He couldn't really be—"_

"Aniki!" Shou called out, interrupting Jaden's thoughts.

Jaden blinked and stopped as Shou, Hayato, Daitokuji, and Pharaoh ran up to her.

"Where'd he go?" asked Shou.

Jaden looked around and blinked.

"I lost him…" Jaden said as she wondered where the man and Takadera were.

Shou closed his eyes and let out a sigh in dismay.

"Weren't you just running after him?" asked Hayato.

Jaden closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her head.

"Well…" she said.

Pharaoh's sudden hissing caught Daitokuji's attention as he looked down at the tabby cat. The tabby cat's fur was puffed up and bristled as he continued to hiss and yowl at something.

"What's wrong-nya, Pharaoh?" asked Daitokuji.

Pharaoh bared his teeth as he continued his strange behavior. Hayato, Shou, and Jaden looked at the cat, perplexed.

"Pharaoh's whiskers, they're…" said Shou.

Jaden blinked and turned her head.

"Over there!" Jaden said, breaking into yet another run.

Hayato, Shou, Daitokuji, and Pharaoh ran after Jaden as she ran deeper into the forest. A few moments later, the group reached a fenced area surrounded with what seemed to be generators. They stopped and looked around their surroundings.

"Where are we?' asked Shou.

"Be careful-nya," said Daitokuji. "This is the power supply for the entire island's electricity-nya."

Jaden ran forward into the power supply station (I call it a station, live with it!).

"There's a high-voltage current!" warned Daitokuji.

Jaden stopped in her tracks and gasped when she spotted Takadera on the ground, unconscious.

"Takadera!" she exclaimed.

Jaden ran towards Takadera, but as said by Daitokuji, a high-voltage current blocked her from getting any closer to the Obelisk Blue. The gender-mistaken girl shielded herself with her arm, the electrical energy being somewhat too bright for her. Suddenly, the man they were chasing after appeared within the electrical energy.

Without the trench coat, hat, and scarf combo (that happened to resemble the attire of the_ Invisible Man_), the man was without a doubt, Psycho Shocker. With this confirmed and his sudden appearance, Pharaoh jumped onto Daitokuji and sunk his claws into his owner's shirt. Daitokuji held onto Pharaoh as the tabby cat meowed loudly.

Shou and Hayato looked at Daitokuji.

"Sensei, don't you teach about spirits being real?" asked Shou.

Daitokuji's expression went nervous as he stammered.

"Well, uh…t-this is the first time I've seen one-nya!" Daitokuji confessed nervously.

Jaden stared at Psycho Shocker.

"Hey, Psycho Shocker!" said Jaden. "Let Takadera and the others go!"

Psycho Shocker just stared at Jaden, silent.

"If you want to be reborn so badly, take me as a sacrifice!" said Jaden.

Hayato, Shou, and Daitokuji looked at Jaden, shocked.

"Jaden!" said Hayato.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

Daitokuji just stayed silent, though his expression was concerned. There was no changing Jaden's mind once she had made her decision. He, Shou, and Hayato had learned first-hand about that during the past couple of months they had spent with Jaden.

A/N I believe that October is the month where Duel Academy starts its new school year since it was stated by Shou in the first episode of season 2. And if it is October, then I'd say it's been only a couple of months since it's now winter…yeah…well, back to story!

After a moment of silence, Psycho Shocker responded to Jaden's offer.

"I see…" he said. "I wonder if the power and waves being emitted from you are average…"

The fact that Psycho Shocker could talk had shocked both Hayato and Shou.

"Huh?" said Shou. "He talked!"

"You might just be more worthy of being my third sacrifice…" said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden glared at Psycho Shocker.

"Hey!" snapped Jaden. "I don't belong to anyone!"

"Not yet, that is…" said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden stared blankly at Psycho Shocker, only moving when a shiver went up her spine. That just sounded very creepy, what, with herself on the line for the resurrection of a Duel Spirit. Speaking of resurrections…that reminded her…

"Hold it!" said Jaden. "I'm not giving up that easily! To take me as a sacrifice, there's one condition you need to fulfill…you'll have to duel me! If you win, I'll become your sacrifice, but…"

Jaden tightened her fist and stared at Psycho Shocker with a serious expression.

"If I win, you'll let Takadera and the other two go!" said Jaden.

"Fine," Psycho Shocker said, amused with Jaden's proposition. "Sounds interesting. I will use you as a sacrifice for my summoning!"

Static electricity crackled from the generators as Psycho Shocker continued on.

"There's no longer any escape for you, my sacrifice!" said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden held up her left arm where her duel disk resided as she scowled at Psycho Shocker.

"I'm not a sacrifice!" snapped Jaden. "And I don't belong to you or anyone for the matter! I'm Jaden from Osiris Red!"

A light flashed from where the power supply station was as both Jaden and Psycho Shocker began their duel.

"Duel!" they both said.

Jaden:

LP

4000

Psycho Shocker:

LP

4000

Jaden drew her first five cards as Psycho Shocker used the electric power surrounding him to manifest cards for himself.

"I will take the first move," said Psycho Shocker. "Draw!"

A card appeared in front of the cards Psycho Shocker had manifested.

"I summon Killer Doll of Malice in attack mode!" said Psycho Shocker.

A demented, evil-looking doll-like monster appeared on the field holding an axe in his hands.

ATK 1600

"From my hand, I activate the Permanent Magic, Ectoplasmer!" said Psycho Shocker. "During the End Phase of their turns, both players can sacrifice a monster on their field…to deal half of its ATK as damage to the opponent."

Killer Doll of Malice yelped and hunched over as a white, spirit-like essence emanated from him and floated over to where Jaden was. Jaden shielded herself as the spirit-like essence flew around her once, leaving her with a rather pained feeling.

Jaden:

LP

3200

Killer Doll of Malice disappeared from the field as Shou, Hayato, and Daitokuji looked at Jaden concerned.

"A-Aniki already took damage!" said Shou.

Jaden clenched her teeth and stared at Psycho Shocker.

"_His Permanent Magic…"_ thought Jaden. "_With more monsters on the field, it'll give you an advantage!"_

"I end my turn," said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden looked at her deck and reached for it.

"My turn!" Jaden said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden glanced at her card and looked at her hand, cursing mentally.

"_I've only got one monster!"_ Jaden thought before looking up and playing a card. "I'll summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!"

Elemental Hero Avian appeared on the field as Jaden set four cards face-down from her hand.

ATK 1000

"I set four cards face-down…" Jaden said as she smiled and held up the only card in her hand that was left. "And next, from my hand, I'm activating a Permanent Magic of my own! I activate Mirage of Nightmare! During my opponent's Standby Phase, this lets me draw until my hand's at four. And on my next Standby Phase, I have to randomly discard as many cards as I drew from my hand."

Jaden looked at Psycho Shocker and smiled.

"Next up's my attack!" she said as she directed Avian at Psycho Shocker. "I use Avian to attack the player directly! Feather Break!"

Avian charged at Psycho Shocker and punched through the Duel Spirit with intense force.

Psycho Shocker:

LP

3000

Psycho Shocker's life points took another toll as Jaden used Ectoplasmer's effect and sacrificed Avian to deal the Duel Spirit an attack that dealt half the amount of damage equal to half of the Elemental Hero's ATK. Psycho Shocker grunted as Avian's spirit-like essence punched him.

Psycho Shocker:

LP

2500

"Great work, Aniki!" Shou complimented Jaden. "You hit him with 1500 damage right off the bat!"

Jaden grinned and brought down her fist once before keeping it up.

"Aw, yeah!" said Jaden. "Things are goin' great!"

Despite her current lead, Daitokuji was still concerned about Jaden.

"No, this is a soul-risking battle with a Duel Spirit…" said Daitokuji. "A Shadow Game, so to speak. Jaden-kun, don't let your guard down."

Jaden ceased her grin and stared at Psycho Shocker.

"It's my turn," said Psycho Shocker. "Draw!"

A card appeared in front of Psycho Shocker.

"The Killer Doll Of Malice that is in my Graveyard because of my Permanent Magic's effect is reborn during my Standby Phase," he explained as the Killer Doll of Malice appeared on his field.

Jaden smiled and reached for her deck.

"I'll also activate Mirage of Nightmare's effect!" Jaden said as she drew four cards. "I draw four cards!"

Jaden glanced at the four cards she drew and mentally cheered in her thoughts.

"_I got 'em, I got 'em!" _thought Jaden. _"I got some Monster cards!"_

Jaden looked up and activated one of her face-down cards.

"And from my field, I activate Emergency Provisions!" said Jaden. "I'll send Mirage of Nightmare to the Graveyard to regain 1000 of my life points!"

Jaden:

LP

4200

Hayato smiled and held up his fist.

"Whoa, that was a good move!" said Hayato. "She restored her life points and won't have to discard any cards!"

Psycho Shocker kept his calm disposition as he continued his turn.

"I summon Emissary of the Underworld in attack mode!" said Psycho Shocker.

An eerie, reaper-like monster with a scythe in its hands appeared on the field. The reaper-like monster laughed menacingly.

ATK 1600

Both Hayato and Shou gasped.

"That's not good at all!" said Hayato. "Jaden has no monsters on her field!"

Jaden clenched her teeth and glared at Hayato.

"Shut it, Koala-man!" snapped Jaden.

Hayato jolted and smiled nervously at Jaden as he clamped up. Jaden nodded her head in approval as she focused her gaze back on her opponent. Psycho Shocker pointed at her.

"Emissary of the Underworld, attack that player directly!" said Psycho Shocker. "Soul Hunt!"

Emissary of the Underworld charged at Jaden as it swung its scythe up, ready to strike. Jaden intervened in the monster's attack.

"Reversed card, open!" said Jaden. "A Hero Emerges!"

Jaden smiled as she held up her hand.

"Now, pick a card," she said. "If it's a Monster card, I can special-summon it!"

Psycho Shocker pointed his finger at one of the cards in Jaden's hand. Static electricity crackled on the card of the Duel Spirit's choice. Jaden glanced at her card and looked up.

"Awright!" said Jaden. "It's a Monster card!"

Jaden picked out the card Psycho Shocker had chosen and held it out.

"I special-summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" she said as said Elemental Hero appeared on her field.

ATK 1600

With Sparkman on the field and Emissary of the Underworld ready to attack, it was only natural for the Elemental Hero to fend off the attacking monster. Since both monsters had the same ATK, both were destroyed from attacking each other. Had this been in a different situation and Jaden thought differently, she would've counted Sparkman's sacrifice to protect her as any other monster would on her field sweet or, dare I say it, heroic (A/N Bleh, bad pun…).

However, that would never happen since _this_ was Jaden…the girl who'd actually threw a _Twilight _manga book across a room, shrieking. Said girl who was also the one to immediately perk up to using said book as combustible material. To some, this would sound rather weird or wrong, to others…meh, typical reaction from a person who understands the meaning of REAL true vampire fiction and myths. Sparkling vampires indeed…what complete utter nonsense, much like this exact sentence you're reading. (2)

"By sending Emissary of the Underworld to the Graveyard, its effect activates!" said Psycho Shocker. "We both now add one Level-3 or lower Normal Monster from our decks to our hands. I choose Wicked Thousand-Eyed God!"

Jaden looked through her deck and picked out her card of choice before holding it up.

"Then, I'll go with Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" said Jaden.

"My Battle Phase hasn't ended yet," said Psycho Shocker. "I use Killer Doll of Malice to attack the player directly! Grudge Axe!"

Killer Doll of Malice threw his axe directly at Jaden. Jaden clenched her teeth and winced in pain from the attack as her life points decreased.

Jaden:

LP

2600

"That's not all!" said Psycho Shocker.

Once again, Ectoplasmer proved its potency to Jaden's life points as Killer Doll of Malice's spirit-like essence flew around her. Jaden grunted and held her chest as she felt the attack's pained feeling.

Jaden:

LP

1800

"I end my turn," said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden clenched her teeth and stared at Psycho Shocker with one eye opened as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"_If I don't do something about that Ectoplasmer…"_ Jaden thought before she gasped.

Jaden's eyes widened at the strange sensation she was feeling. It was like something was beginning to disappear from her.

"A-Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Shou and noticed his shocked expression.

"Your body!" he said.

Jaden blinked and looked down at herself, her eyes immediately widening in shock. The lower half of her body which consisted from the knee down was transparent.

"What is this?" she exclaimed.

Psycho Shocker laughed in amusement to Jaden's reaction.

"Your life points are at 1800, so half your body has essentially become a sacrifice for my resurrection!" he explained.

Jaden stuttered as she looked herself, her gaze focused on the transparent part of her body. She looked up and glared at Psycho Shocker as she held up her fist.

"Quit messing around!" snapped Jaden. "That's no sacrifice!"

Jaden reached for her deck.

"My turn!" she said, drawing a card. "Draw! I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in attack mode!"

The golem-like Elemental Hero appeared on the field.

ATK 800

"And I equip Clayman with the Equip Magic, Clay Wrap, that's on my field!" Jaden said as she flipped over one of the face-down cards on her field.

A transparent wrap of some sort enveloped Clayman, doing absolutely nothing in effect…yet, that is. Jaden continued her turn with a Magic card on her field.

"Next, from my field, I activate Polymerization!" Jaden said, picking out a card in her hand and holding it up. "I fuse Clayman with Elemental Hero Burstinatrix to summon Rampart Gunner in attack mode!"

Burstinatrix and Clayman leaped into the air as Polymerization worked its fusion effect on both Elemental Heroes, forming the fusion-monster that appeared on the field.

ATK 2000

"And Clayman was sent to the Graveyard as Fusion-Material," Jaden said, smiling. "But, when the Clay Wrap equipped to Clayman was sent to the Graveyard, I activated its effect!"

Jaden looked at her duel disk as a light gleamed from it. She grinned and looked back up at her opponent.

"It destroys one Magic or Trap card on my opponent's field!" she explained before pointing at Ectoplasmer.

Ectoplasmer was destroyed, much to the relief of Jaden and her friends.

"With this, Ectoplasmer's direct damage-inflicting effect is gone!" said Hayato.

"Here goes!" said Jaden. "I use Rampart Gunner to attack the player directly! Rampart Shot!"

Rampart Gunner launched her missile-like bullets at Psycho Shocker. Psycho Shocker grunted in pain from the attack as the smoke from the explosions began to clear.

Psycho Shocker:

LP

500

"Alright, Aniki!" said Shou.

"That's the way, Jaden!" said Hayato.

Jaden stared darkly at Psycho Shocker.

"Do you really think I'll let myself be sacrificed?" Jaden asked, picking out a card from her hand. "I set one card face-down, finishing my turn!"

"It's my turn!" said Psycho Shocker. "Draw!"

Another card appeared in front of Psycho Shocker. The Duel Spirit looked at his card and laughed menacingly.

"It seems the time has come!" said Psycho Shocker. "Soon, the ritual for my resurrection will now begin!"

Jaden looked at Psycho Shocker perplexed.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"I activate Killer Doll of Malice's effect!" said Psycho Shocker. "I sacrifice Killer Doll of Malice…to summon Psycho Shocker in attack mode!"

Killer Doll of Malice disappeared from the field as the card Psycho Shocker just finished drawing, turned around. Psycho Shocker vanished as electrical energy crackled in the air before sending a bolt down on the Duel Spirit's card. A few moments later, smoke circled around where the card once was before Psycho Shocker reappeared, laughing menacingly.

ATK 2400

Jaden stared at Psycho Shocker, who was no longer transparent.

"I-It's finally out, huh?" said Jaden.

Hayato and Shou started in shock at Psycho Shocker.

"At last…" said Hayato.

"Psycho Shocker's spirit was…" Shou said before trailing off.

"…resurrected!" finished Hayato.

Daitokuji shook his head.

"No…" said Daitokuji. "Jaden-kun hasn't been sacrificed yet, so his complete resurrection is still…"

"That's right," said Psycho Shocker. "Jaden, once I defeat you, my resurrection will be complete!"

Jaden scowled at the Duel Spirit.

"You think I'll let it?" yelled Jaden. "Mark my words, I'll stop you!"

"A futile struggle!" Psycho Shocker remarked as a small sphere of energy appeared in his hand. "I use myself to attack Rampart Gunner! Cyber Energy Shock!"

Psycho Shocker sent the sphere of energy at Rampart Gunner. Static electricity enveloped the Elemental Hero and shocked her full on, causing her to yell out in pain. Jaden shielded herself as Rampart Gunner was destroyed.

Jaden:

LP

1400

"I end my turn," said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden glared at Psycho Shocker before diverting her chocolate brown eyes at Hayato and Shou. From the waist down, she was transparent and the last thing she needed was for someone to remind her of Psycho Shocker's effect on Trap cards.

"Nobody…say…a word," said Jaden. "I already know his effect prevents Trap cards from activating!"

Both Hayato and Shou clamped up and stayed silent. Apparently, when Jaden's body was on the line in a duel and began to disappear, stating the obvious or prolonging a duel had a tendency to make her snap. Though, it does seem like a reasonable response in a situation like this…that, or she was trying to hide her anxiety…maybe even both.

A/N But the authoress digresses and continues on with the story.

"My turn!" Jaden said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at her card and hand before switching it out with a different card.

"I summon Friendog in defense mode!" said Jaden.

A black, machine-like dog appeared on Jaden's side of the field.

DEF 1200

"I finish my turn!" said Jaden.

Hayato looked at Friendog, memories of the card's effect popping up in mind as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"When that card's destroyed, she can add an 'Elemental Hero' card and Polymerization from her Graveyard to her hand!" explained Hayato.

Shou looked at Jaden in wonder as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"What Hero is Aniki going to bring out?" Shou wondered aloud.

"It's my turn," said Psycho Shocker. "Draw!"

A card appeared in front of Psycho Shocker.

"I summon Soul Caller in attack mode!" said Psycho Shocker.

A rather frail-looking man in a cloak appeared on the field.

ATK 1000

Jaden clenched her teeth as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"_Bring it!"_ she thought.

Psycho Shocker charged up another sphere of energy in his hand.

"And I use myself to attack Friendog!" said Psycho Shocker. "Cyber Energy Shock!"

The sphere of energy in Psycho Shocker's hand crackled with static and glowed pink before it was thrown at Friendog. Friendog was destroyed by Psycho Shocker's attack, which was just as Jaden planned that would happen.

Jaden smiled and drew two cards.

"And now, I'm adding Clayman and Polymerization to my hand!" Jaden said as she held up said two cards.

"But all your monsters on the field are gone," remarked Psycho Shocker. "I use Soul Caller to attack the player directly! Gloomy Fang!"

Soul Caller's eyes glowed red and his teeth were now razor-sharp. He opened his mouth very wide and let out intense sound waves at Jaden. Jaden yelled out and clenched her teeth as her life points decreased.

Jaden:

LP

400

Hayato and Shou stared at their roommate in shock as more of Jaden's body became transparent, from the shoulder down, in compensation to her current life points.

"She's got 400 life points!" exclaimed Hayato.

"Aniki!" Shou said anxiously.

Jaden ignored her roommates and stayed quiet, not currently in the mood to snap back. Psycho Shocker continued his turn.

"And, I equip myself with the Equip Magic, Electric Amplifier, from my hand!" Psycho Shocker said as a helmet (I call it a helmet, deal with it!) appeared on his head. "With this, I won't be affected by Psycho Shocker's effect, and I can activate Trap cards. I set one card face-down, ending my turn."

Jaden's roommates and Daitokuji were now worried and concerned. Their gender-mistaken friend was down to 400 life points left, had no monsters on her field, and now, she was the only one who couldn't activate Trap cards. Having learned from previous experience, both Hayato and Shou stayed quiet as Jaden drew a card.

"My turn!" said Jaden. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card she drew and held it out.

"I activate Pot of Greed!" Jaden said, drawing two cards from her deck. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!"

The blue-clad, white-caped Elemental Hero appeared on the field.

ATK 800

"And I activate the Equip Magic, Bubble Shot, from my hand!" said Jaden. "I'll equip it to Bubbleman! This ups Bubbleman's ATK by 800!"

A rocket-launcher-like weapon appeared in Bubbleman's possession as his ATK increased.

ATK: Previously, 800

Now…1600!

"Here goes!" said Jaden. "I use Bubbleman to attack Soul Caller! Bubble Shoot!"

Bubbleman launched a large bubble from his rocket-launcher-like weapon at Soul Caller, destroying the monster. (3)

"At this moment, I activate the Permanent Trap, Spirit Barrier!" said Psycho Shocker.

A spirit-like essence wrapped around Psycho Shocker and was absorbed by the Duel Spirit (A/N I know he's not a spirit right now, but deal with it! It's a habit!).

"As long as I have a monster on the field, any Battle Damage to me becomes zero!" said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden kept her calm, though slightly anxious composure as she reached for her hand.

"I activate the Magic card, Fairy of the Spring, from my hand!" Jaden said as she picked out a card from her hand.

A fairy-like being made out of what seemed to be water with pale, pink-colored wings appeared on the field holding two different colored swords in her hands.

"This adds one Equip Magic card from my Graveyard to my hand!" explained Jaden. "I choose Clay Wrap!"

Hayato and Shou stared agape at the card Jaden held up.

"That's from before!" exclaimed Shou.

Hayato nodded, remembering the card's effect from earlier.

"It's a card with an effect that takes a Magic or Trap card with it to the Graveyard!" said Hayato.

"I set one card face-down, finishing my turn," Jaden said as she placed a card face-down.

"It's my turn!" Psycho Shocker said, drawing a card. "I use myself to attack Bubbleman! Cyber Energy Shock!"

Psycho Shocker sent yet another sphere of energy at Jaden's monster for his attack. Bubbleman shielded himself from the attack using his rocket-launcher-like weapon as a shield. Jaden smiled and held up her fist.

"Heh, by destroying the equipped Bubble Shot…" explained Jaden. "Bubbleman's safe from Battle Damage and destruction!"

Psycho Shocker kept his composure despite having wasted his attack.

"I place one card face-down, ending my turn," said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden reached for her deck.

"My turn!" she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card she drew and her slight anxiousness disappeared as she stared at her partner's card. Wing Kuriboh gave a small 'kuri kuri' in greeting.

"_Winged Kuriboh!"_ thought Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh appeared by Jaden and flew over to his partner's shoulder. Jaden smiled at the winged-furball, quite happy with his sudden appearance.

"_I get it!"_ thought Jaden. _"You're cheering me on!"_

"Kuri kuri!" Winged Kuriboh answered before perching himself on Jaden's shoulder. As he glared at Psycho Shocker, he couldn't help but think. _"Kuri kuri…"_ (4)

Psycho Shocker stared at Winged Kuriboh questioningly.

"A spirit?" questioned Psycho Shocker.

Jaden stared at Psycho Shocker with a serious expression as Winged Kuriboh flew over her head, his stern (yet adorable) gaze still focused on his partner's opponent.

"That's right!" said Jaden. "This is my Partner! He doesn't need any sacrifices like you do! As long as our hearts are linked, we can meet anytime!"

Jaden smiled and picked out a card from her hand.

"I summon Clayman in attack mode!" she said, playing the card.

Clayman took his position once more on the field as Jaden reached for another card in her hand.

ATK 800

"And, from my hand, I activate the Equip Magic, Clay Wrap!" Jaden said as Clayman was enveloped in a transparent wrap. "From my hand, I activate Polymerization! Fuse Bubbleman with Clayman!"

Psycho Shocker gasped as Clayman and Bubbleman fused together. Jaden held up a card.

"I summon Elemental Hero Mudballman in attack mode!" said Jaden.

Polymerization's effects on Clayman and Bubbleman formed the giant Fusion-Monster that was Mudballman.

ATK 1900

"I activate the effect of the Clay Wrap that was sent to the Graveyard!" said Jaden. "Destroy that Electric Amplifier Magic card!"

Jaden pointed at the card on Psycho Shocker's field and it was destroyed. The Duel Spirit gasped as the helmet on his head began to crackle with electricity before it shattered. Shou and Hayato smiled ecstatically at the sudden turn of events while Daitokuji just sighed in relief. Honestly, with a student like Jaden, you'd think he'd get a break…

"That's right!" said Hayato. "When Electric Amplifier is sent to the Graveyard, the equipped monster is destroyed!"

"All right, Aniki!" said Shou.

Jaden grinned and held up her fist as Psycho Shocker was destroyed.

"Aw, yeah!" she said.

"We're not done yet!" yelled Psycho Shocker.

Jaden ceased her grin and looked perplexed at her opponent, who seemed to be lacking a visible form.

"I will be resurrected, and I won't let you interfere!" said Psycho Shocker.

Jaden looked around and froze when she saw Takadera move. Takadera got up from the ground, groaning slightly.

"Takadera!" said Jaden.

Takadera turned around and held out his hand as his eyes glowed red.

"Reverse card, open!" said Takadera. "Cry of the Living Dead! From my Graveyard, I resurrect Psycho Shocker, and—"

Jaden scowled and held up her fist. Okay, being bargained as a sacrifice for the wellbeing of someone was one where she did that on her own accord, but possessing said someone was where it crossed the line.

"I won't let you!" Jaden interrupted the currently possessed Takadera. "From my field, I activate Declaration of God!"

A/N As much as I like the name Solemn Judgment, I feel rather spiteful against _4kids_ at the moment to do so.

Lightning flashed in the sky before striking down on the field. A man with long, white hair and a beard appeared on the field accompanied by with two women as Jaden explained the card's effect.

"By paying half my life points, your Trap's activation is negated, and the card's destroyed!" Jaden explained, smiling as she held up her fist.

Jaden:

LP

200

"Now, go!" said Jaden.

The card on Psycho Shocker's field was destroyed in compensation to the 200 life points out of 400 Jaden gave up. The currently possessed Takadera gasped.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"I use Mudballman to attack the player directly!" said Jaden. "Now, die, Psycho Shocker! Mud Stomp!"

Mudballman jumped into the air, electricity crackling in his hands slightly before he cupped them, sending a wave of red energy at Takadera. Takadera yelled as the attack hit him, depleting the last of Psycho Shocker's life points.

Psycho Shocker:

LP

0

Takadera was enveloped in a red, energy sphere. A bright light began to shine, catching everyone off guard. Winged Kuriboh disappeared with a small 'kuri kuri' as his partner and her friends stared at the bright light, perplexed.

"What's this?" exclaimed Daitokuji.

The light began to grow brighter and soon spread at a rapid rate, enveloping the whole area. Shou, Hayato, Daitokuji, and Jaden yelled as the light enveloped them before everything when black for them.

The sound of her duel disk deactivating roused Jaden from her unconscious state. Jaden grunted as her eyes blinked a few times, trying to get accustomed to the sudden brightness that was the sunlight. Slow and drowsy at first, memories from the events before she black out popped up in mind and had her wide awake and alert. Jaden pushed herself off from the ground and looked around.

To one side of her surroundings, were Shou, Hayato, and Daitokuji with Pharaoh in his arms, all of them unconscious, though unharmed. The four regained consciousness and looked at the gender-mistaken girl.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

"Huh?" said Hayato. "It's already morning?"

Jaden closed her eyes and grinned, laughing before she stopped at the sound of nearby snoring. With curious eyes, she turned to the source of the snoring and found three Obelisk Blue students a few feet away from where she was, all three of them sleeping together. Jaden, Hayato, Shou, and Daitokuji walked over to the three and spotted Takadera within the sleeping group.

"It would seem they're all right-nya," said Daitokuji.

Shou looked at Jaden.

"So that wasn't a dream, huh?" Shou asked Jaden.

Jaden blinked and looked at the three Obelisk Blue students.

"_That was no dream…Duel Spirits really exist,"_ she thought, blinking a few times before she looked at her friends. "I don't really get why, but I had fun!"

Shou, Hayato, and Daitokuji stared at Jaden in exasperation as Pharaoh meowed in a slightly aggravated tone. Leave it to Jaden to find a life-threatening situation fun. Shou glared at Jaden, wondering how in the world was going on in his Aniki's mind.

Jaden laughed at the looks her friends gave her as a breeze began to pick up.

* * *

A/N End of chapter, there's still one more left and you know the drill! But just in case! Flames are never welcomed, but constructive criticism is and reviews are up to your choice. Some of you guys may have noticed, but just in case!

I am no longer **KairiDestiny**, but **KlonoaDreams**! I've changed my name, why? Pfft, just for originality sake…that, and I LOVE Klonoa. Either way, I still have the same initials, so just because my name is different doesn't mean I'm not KD anymore! Remember, I'll always be KD! And where was that watermelon I asked for? I'm lucky I now have watermelon in the house and a lot more thanks to a generous donation, if you want me to say toolshed, pay up in a review like **heartlessneko** did!

(1) On my 15th birthday when I went to a Bak-Anime convention, a while later during the Masquerade, Kami-sama (that's me in Haruhi Suzumiya cosplay) and my fellow cosplayer friends, took the chance to look over at the empty room over for things we wanted to buy. We came upon the manga shelves and one of my friends found _Twilight_ manga. At first, we were appalled until one of us suggested to look for Jacob Black. Since we couldn't find him seeing as he was the _only_ one we actually liked out of _Twilight_, we went back to hating the existence that was the _Twilight_ manga. Now it was either me or one of my friends who suggested we buy the book only so we can burn it. We agreed to that idea and I came up with the idea to use it as marshmallow fire, to which all my friends agreed to. I think it was my friend who was crossplaying as BB from _Death Note_ or the lady selling the manga who warned us not to get glitter on our marshmallows. We ended up not buying the book seeing as we wanted to look through the fan art and such…

Sorry if Jaden sounded OOC right there, but I really wanted to let that moment out.

(2) Gotcha there, didn't I? Heh, it was something out of my opinion on Twilight, which isn't that really bad of a book, but it's just that Bella's obsession with Edward and the sparkling vampires…ugh! As my friend and minion master who gave me the title Minion #13 and my friend **MoMo08** Minion #1, **shadowscarlet** once said, "Vampires don't sparkle! They're supposed to _burn_!"

Those who wish to help take control of the planet when it all goes to hell, go to **shadowscarlet** if you want to be her minion, I don't how many minions she has now, but all I know it's close to being 40! As **MoMo08** said on her profile!

French word!

_Vive la Resistance!_

Fire!

Yup, exactly what she said…heh, I'm advertising for a friend, so yeah…back to the little notes!

(3) I'm starting to wonder how bubbles can hurt someone, let alone destroy them, but then I remember the attacks in Pokémon. So yeah…

(4) Translation: "Actually, I was just here to check up on you, but whatever makes you happy!"

Ah, Winged Kuriboh…there to check up on Jaden when she's in trouble before cheering her on. What a good partner…

On to the next chapter!


	12. Turn 12

Chapter Twelve

When They Learned of Her True Naïvety

A few weeks had passed by since the Duel Spirit incident and by then, winter vacation was over. Classes have begun again, going back to their usual routines after students returned to the Academy. Jaden's room, after much time and hard work, was finally done with its construction, today being the day where she could finally move in since the paint had finally dried.

Aside from today being the day where Jaden was going to move out into her new room, at the current moment, it was gym class, usually the last class of the day. Ayukawa advised the current class to their post for today's physical activity.

"For today's PE class, we'll be playing tennis!" said Ayukawa.

Everyone replied back to Ayukawa after taking their respective posts on the tennis courts.

"Right!" they said.

And with that, they began to play. Junko and Momoe took their positions as the ball was served over to them. Junko hit the ball back to their opponents, who just so happened to be Jaden and Shou. The four of them were all in their new gym uniforms (Momoe, Junko, and Jaden wearing lilac-colored uniforms and Shou's being blue), much like their previous ones. However, unlike their last ones, they wore shorts with this uniform.

Momoe hit the ball back over the net, to which Shou reacted nervously as he held his racket in front of himself. Jaden sweat dropped as she saw Shou hop back on one foot nervously before hitting the ball back over the net, yelping slightly in anticipation. Jaden sighed and clenched her teeth.

"C'mon…what's tennis got to do with dueling?" whined Jaden.

Momoe ran to the side with her racket in hand as she looked at Jaden.

"You know, Ayukawa-sensei also really wanted to play volleyball!" Momoe said before hitting the ball over to Jaden.

Jaden reacted quickly and ran to the side, still rather unconvinced.

"Either way, it's the same," said Jaden.

Jaden pinpointed the ball's location in the air and made a remarkable leap off the ground to spike the ball back to the other side of the net. However, the ball's impact with the racket got it going in a direction that headed towards the adjacent court…right towards where Asuka was!

Jaden's eyes widened as gravity took its effect on her and had her landing back down on the ground.

"Oh, crap!" exclaimed Jaden. "Look out, Asuka!"

Asuka turned her head from her current game to see why Jaden had yelled out at her for. Her eyes widened as she saw the tennis ball soaring at an intense velocity in her direction. Frozen with a 'deer caught in a headlight' look, Asuka was fortunate that the ball was intercepted by someone, sending it off into a different direction. However, unlike Asuka, Professor Chronos was unfortunate seeing as he happened to be in the direction the ball was sent at.

Professor Chronos was currently sitting on a raised chair, having been the current chair umpire (A/N I looked it up, so don't question me). He was currently talking to Ayukawa, neither of them noticing the ball.

"Well, you see—" Professor Chronos was cut off as, once again, a ball hit him in the face, only this time, it hit him in the right eye.

Despite it being a different eye, the impact the ball had on Professor Chronos's right eye was still as painful…especially since the force caused him to fall back off his raised chair. Apparently, today was one of those days where everything seemed to turn against him in painful ways.

On a different matter, Asuka sighed in relief and stared at the person who saved her from the ball.

"U-Um…" Asuka stuttered, trying to find the right words to say.

Momoe and Junko ran over to their roommate, having seen everything.

"Asuka-san!" said Junko. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Asuka stayed quiet as the person who helped her out stood up from and turned to face her. The student was male, obviously by his tall stature and build (A/N I can't refer to him as a boy since it doesn't fit him, so male student it is!). He wore a blue, polo-shirt with the Academy's insignia on the left side of his chest and a pair of white shorts and had reddish-brown hair and grey eyes (not sure if they're grey or hazel, but I'm trying here!).

"You all right?" he asked Asuka. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

The male student gave Asuka a dazzling smile as the background behind him gleamed and sparkled. Whether this was his attempt at flirting or to reassure Asuka, this action caused Junko and Momoe to clasp their hands together and stared at him with hearts in their eyes. They sighed in a dreamy-like manner as a blush tinged their cheeks. Oh yeah, he got them good…

Asuka was not affected like her friends were and just replied back, "No, I'm fine."

Asuka bowed at the male student in gratitude. That was one injury she just avoided thanks to him.

"Thanks a lot for saving me so politely," said Asuka.

The male student looked at Asuka and ceased his smile as he finally got a good look at her. The uniform Asuka wore was close-fitting, accentuating the curves her figure had, especially around her well-endowed chest. With a flawless face like hers framed slightly by her small, dark-blonde side bangs with light, brown eyes embellished with long, black lashes staring at him, the male student fell for Asuka…_hard_.

The male student was completely smitten with the Obelisk Blue beauty, the background behind her sparkled as she smiled at him.

A/N I just love describing Asuka, why? I don't know, but I'm having fun, so back off!

"_Is this Obelisk Blue's…"_ the male student thought as his eyes misted a bit and a blush tinged his cheeks, _"…Asuka Tenjoin-kun?"_

The male student was too overwhelmed in Asuka's beauty as any good male would when they've fallen head over heels for a girl (or boy if they swing that way…XD) to notice her change in expression.

"Um…is there something else?" asked Asuka.

The male student blinked and sweat dropped as he nervously looked at Asuka.

"No!" he replied, laughing awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I was being rude. I didn't know there was a lovely lady like yourself in _my_ Obelisk Blue."

During the moment, the Obelisk Blue student grabbed onto Asuka's hand somehow without even knowing about it himself. Asuka stared at him perplexed.

"U-Um…" she said.

"Huh?" said the Obelisk Blue.

The male student blinked and looked down, exclaiming as he immediately let go of Asuka's hand. He stared wide-eyed at the ground sheepishly, embarrassed.

"I was a bit pretentious, wasn't I?" he asked, laughing awkwardly to ease up his embarrassment. "Please forget that!"

The Obelisk Blue continued to laugh as he walked back, waving his racket around a few times before turning around.

"Man, being a teen, being a teen!" the male student exclaimed.

Asuka stared at the Obelisk Blue student perplexed as both Jaden and Shou popped up behind her, both looking clueless as to what just happened.

* * *

~later in the Main Academy Building's infirmary~

Professor Chronos stared at Jaden as she apologized to him.

"I'm really sorry!" Jaden said, bowing apologetically at the blonde professor who now sported a black eye. "Please forgive me…"

Professor Chronos scowled at Jaden and turned his head to face Ayukawa, whom had an ice-pack ready for the blonde-haired professor's black eye.

"I suppose with an apology, I won't need the police-_no ne_!" said Professor Chronos.

Ayukawa turned Professor Chronos's head a bit forcefully towards her, causing a few of his neck bones to pop.

"Signora Ayukawa, please be a bit more tender-_no ne_…" said Professor Chronos.

Jaden stared at Ayukawa and Professor Chronos, somewhat concerned. Ayukawa diverted her eyes on Jaden as she spoke to Professor Chronos in an attempt to defend the gender-mistaken girl.

"Jaden-kun didn't mean to do it, so why don't you forgive her for that accident, Professor Chronos?" Ayukawa asked as she placed the ice-pack on the professor's black eye.

Professor Chronos reacted negatively to Ayukawa's suggestion.

"_Non_!" he said. "_Non_! _Non_! That's like leaving beer lying around, is it not?"

Ayukawa took the ice-pack off of Professor Chronos and looked at him questioningly. Professor Chronos held up his finger.

"And a lukewarm on, at that," he added.

Ayukawa sweat dropped while Jaden looked to the side.

"He's making a pun?" Jaden muttered.

Professor Chronos turned to face Jaden on the desk chair he sat on. He placed his hand around his ear (which grew bigger in a comical way) as if he heard something.

"Oh?" he said. "Did you say something, Dropout Boy?"

"I'm just saying, it wasn't me who hit you like that," said Jaden.

Professor Chronos got up from his seat and walked over to Jaden.

"Be quiet-_no ne_!" snapped Professor Chronos. "To think you're blaming this on someone else… All right."

Jaden looked nervously at Professor Chronos as he stood in front of her.

"As your punishment, you are to join and spend one day in our Tennis Club!" said Professor Chronos.

Jaden blinked owlishly.

"Wait, what?" she said. "Aren't you mixed up?"

Professor Chronos looked Jaden in the eye with a serious expression.

"Don't, and you'll be expelled," Professor Chronos said darkly.

Jaden frowned.

"But they just finished building my room…" complained Jaden.

Sometime later within the Academy,

Jaden let out a mushroom sigh as Professor Chronos kept his hand on her shoulder while he conversed with a very familiar male student. Apparent, the professor didn't trust her to go alone and decided to escort her to the tennis courts. She looked down in dismay as Professor Chronos nodded and left her alone with the student, who just so happened to be captain of the Tennis Club. Just her luck…

"_And he didn't even let me change out of this uniform…"_ Jaden thought as she tugged on her sweatshirt. _"Is this supposed to be closefitting? Cause it's not…Huh?"_

Jaden looked up after feeling someone tap on her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes when she was now staring at the captain. The captain of the Tennis Club smiled at Jaden, whom wasn't in the mood for this.

"Let's get this over with…" said Jaden. "…er…uh…"

"Mitsuru Ayanokouji," said the captain.

Jaden nodded and sighed.

"Right…Jaden Yuki," said Jaden. "Yah!"

Jaden yelped as Ayanokouji slapped her on the back in a friendly-like manner. Whether he intentionally meant to do it rough or not, Jaden didn't care and would love nothing more than to throw the Obelisk Blue onto the ground for that. However, she had self control…that, and she didn't want to risk getting another day of being in the Tennis Club…or expulsion.

"_Damn Professor Chronos…"_ Jaden thought.

"Alright, let's get you in a uniform, Jaden-kun!" said Ayanokouji.

Jaden glared at Ayanokouji as he led her into an empty locker room, most likely the Tennis Club's locker room, but she didn't care. His hand was on her shoulder…his hand…

"_Must resist judo throwing captain…"_ thought Jaden.

Ayanokouji let go of Jaden's shoulder, much to her relief, and walked over to a locker. He opened the locker after staring at Jaden in thought for a few minutes on what size the Osiris Red was. Jaden looked around the room, busying herself by looking at the tennis equipment right by her.

Suddenly, a hand was on Jaden's shoulder, causing the gender-mistaken girl to shriek a bit. She turned around quickly and backed up a few inches, narrowly avoiding the equipment that was behind her. When she realized it was just Ayanokouji holding a pile of neatly, folded white clothes, she sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

Ayanokouji was amused with Jaden's reaction and found it somewhat adorable, but more to the point, he needed to get her in that uniform quickly so he can begin practice. He handed her the pile of clothes and crossed his arms as she looked at it questioningly.

Jaden looked at the clothes Ayanokouji handed before looking at him questioningly. After a few moments of silence, Ayanokouji decided to ask what's wrong.

"Jaden-kun, why haven't you changed?" asked Ayanokouji.

Jaden blinked and just stared at him. Ayanokouji arched his eyebrow at her, wondering why she wasn't answering. He placed his hand on her shoulder and looked at her right in the eye, causing some tension for the gender-mistaken girl.

"Jaden-kun, you're still in your gym uniform," said Ayanokouji. "Get out of them and put on the uniform I gave you… unless you want me to do it for you?"

Jaden blinked and looked nervously at Ayanokouji. Once again, no answer, but he did get a reaction out of her. Ayanokouji was just teasing Jaden at first, but seeing as the only thing he got was a nervous expression from her…he decided to give her a little push.

"Do I really have to get you out of those clothes myself?" asked Ayanokouji.

Jaden was still trying to figure out if he was just teasing her or if he was really serious from the first time he asked her that. Her conclusion was simple as the zipper on her sweatshirt was tugged downward slightly. **He was downright serious**…

Ayanokouji stared at Jaden as she quickly moved her hand over her zipper to keep him from tugging it any lower. Her face turned red as she looked at the Tennis Club Captain, who smiled slyly at her.

"Well?" said Ayanokouji.

The next thing that happened wasn't what Ayanokouji had expect would happen. Instead of Jaden changing into the uniform he gave him (Professor Chronos left out _one_ little thing) after a potential snap and insult, all he got was a high-pitched shriek and a fist to the stomach. For a rather scrawny first-year, the boy could pack a punch.

Jaden dropped the clothes in her hand onto the ground and picked up a racket from the equipment and started swinging it at Ayanokouji.

"Get out!" she screamed. "Get…out! Get the hell out!"

Ayanokouji dodged every swing Jaden sent at him, confused to why the Osiris Red would react this way.

"_I mean, we're both men, right?"_ thought Ayanokouji.

Ayanokouji snapped out of his thoughts as a tennis ball was sent directly at him, to which he dodged. He looked at Jaden as she threw a tennis ball up and served it over hand forcefully at him. Seeing as he wasn't welcomed, Ayanokouji high-tailed it out of the locker room, narrowly avoiding a few more tennis balls followed by a thrown tennis racket at him.

Ayanokouji could help but think,_ "Wow, nice serves."_

Jaden was hyperventilating as she held another tennis racket in her hand with a ball in the other. She stared at the door Ayanokouji shut behind him for a few moments. Her face still burned red, but it began to cool down once she started to breathe in deeply to calm her pounding heart.

Self-defense was beginning to prove its worth to Jaden aside from warding off bullies. After making sure Ayanokouji wouldn't open the door by locking it, she began to change.

"_Sheesh, all I wanted him was to leave before I change!" _thought Jaden. _"Is privacy a little too much to ask for?"_

A few moments later, Ayanokouji sighed as he waited patiently for Jaden to walk out. It didn't help that the Osiris Red locked the door and since he left the keys inside the locker room, there was not much to do except wait. A few minutes had passed before the doorknob clicked and turned.

Ayanokouji watched as the door opened before Jaden walked out wearing the uniform he gave her. She held a tennis racket in her right hand and had a red sweatband on her right wrist. She wore a white polo-shirt and shorts of the same color, which she was currently tugging at.

"Oi, Ayanokouji," said Jaden. "You gave me the wrong size shorts. These are too loose."

Ayanokouji scratched the back of his head.

"They are?" asked Ayanokouji. "Let me fix—"

"Get near me, and I'll bash you with this racket," Jaden said darkly as she held up the racket.

Ayanokouji looked at Jaden nervously.

A few moments later,

Jaden was grumbling as she stood by Ayanokouji, racket-less. Somehow, despite being at a somewhat upper advantage, the Tennis Captain had managed to snatch the racket out of her hand before dragging her back into the locker room to pick out shorts that were better suited to her size.

"Why me?" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji heard Jaden and sighed.

"By the way, sorry about that earlier, Jaden-kun," said Ayanokouji. "Didn't expect you to do that…"

Jaden glared at Ayanokouji.

"All I wanted you was to leave and let me change," said Jaden. "Was that too much to ask for?"

Ayanokouji turned from the box he was rummaging through for shorts and stared at Jaden.

"Then why didn't you say so?" questioned Ayanokouji. "Besides, we're both men, what difference does it matter?"

Jaden tightened her fists and scowled at Ayanokouji.

"I happen to find that it does matter!" snapped Jaden. "I like my privacy, thank you very much…"

Ayanokouji sighed and went back to searching for a pair of smaller shorts.

"_For that, he gets 100 balls,"_ thought Ayanokouji.

* * *

Meanwhile in the girls' locker room,

Asuka opened her locker and placed a neatly-folded, fluffy pink towel down on her gym clothes, having just finished changing back into her normal uniform. She turned her head when she heard her friends call out her name. Junko and Momoe walked up to her, both wearing ecstatic grins.

"We figured out who that gentleman was!" said Momoe.

Asuka glared at Momoe.

"Don't raise your voice like that!" snapped Asuka. "It's embarrassing! It almost looks like I told you to investigate, doesn't it?"

As if on cue, two girls sitting on the benches nearby Asuka turned their heads to see what was going on.

"Still!" said Junko.

"We were really interested!" added Momoe.

Few moments later outside the locker room,

Asuka crossed her arms as Junko told her about the student.

"Let's see…his name's…Mitsuru Ayanokouji," said Junko. "An Obelisk Blue Third-Year who's not just in charge of the Tennis Club, but also heir to Ayanokouji Motors!"

Asuka crossed her arms and sighed.

"Come on…" said Asuka.

"On top of that, he's apparently pretty skilled at dueling!" added Momoe. "His skills rival those of that great Ryou Marufuji, too!"

Asuka closed her eyes and looked down. Apparently, she wasn't interested and to prove it, she even stated it out herself.

"That's why I'm not interested, guys," said Asuka.

Suddenly, a loud and panicked voice caught the three girls' attention. They turned and spotted their fellow Osiris Red, Shou, who was surprisingly not with Jaden. He was currently running back and forth in a streak of panic.

"Oh, no!" he exclaimed quickly as he ran back and forth. "Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!"

Shou stopped with his repetitive 'Oh, no!' and looked around frantically as he began to hyperventilate. Asuka, Momoe, and Junko stared at the blue-haired boy questioningly.

"What are you so fussy about?" asked Momoe.

"So noisy…" remarked Junko.

Shou ran in place and looked apologetically at Junko and Momoe.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said Shou. "Do you know where the Tennis Club is?"

"The Tennis Club was playing at class today," replied Asuka.

"Oh, those courts, huh?" Shou said before running off. "Thanks, Asuka-san!"

After a few moments, Junko placed her hands on her hips.

"What's with him?" asked Junko.

Momoe turned to Junko and asked, "Did he just ignore us?"

Suddenly, Shou ran back up to the trio, surprising Momoe and Junko slightly.

"O-Oh, by the way…" Shou said as he ran in place. "Aniki took the brunt of Professor Chronos's anger, and he's having a private practice with the Tennis Club's captain! Well, there you have it!"

Shou broke into another run down the hall.

"Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!"

Both Junko and Momoe watched the blue-haired boy run off before looking at each other.

"Isn't that Ayanokouji-san?" asked Momoe.

"I don't really get much of it, but let's go, Momoe!" Junko said, running off into the direction Shou went in.

Momoe nodded and trailed after Junko.

"Right!" said Momoe.

Asuka was about to follow her friends when someone called out to her.

"Asuka-san!" said someone.

Asuka turned and saw Daitokuji walk up to her with Pharaoh in his arms.

"Daitokuji-sensei!" exclaimed Asuka.

Daitokuji chuckled and smiled as Pharaoh yawned.

"I have something to tell you-nya," said Daitokuji.

Meanwhile on the Tennis Courts,

Jaden continued to hit the tennis balls Ayanokouji had served overhand to her, up to the point of exhaustion. She swung her racket at a ball served at her before falling onto her knees. She breathed heavily, exhausted from running and hitting the balls. There was a slight feeling inside of her that Ayanokouji was going hard on her for the stunt that happened in the locker room.

"Still…this is harsh!" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji turned as one of the ball girls handed him another tennis ball. The Tennis Club captain served the ball to Jaden, to which she immediately stood up and backed up.

"Geez, that Chronos…I'll remember this!" Jaden said as she swung her racket a bit too early, and as a result, got hit in the head with a ball and knocked back.

Jaden fell back onto the ground, landing right on her tailbone…very hard. She clenched her teeth and winced as the pain coursed through her nerves. She was _definitely_ going to feel that tomorrow.

"Ow, my coccyx!"said Jaden. (1)

Ayanokouji walked up to the net and looked at Jaden.

"Stand up!" said Ayanokouji. "Stand up, Jaden Yuki-kun! You can't be crushed by this much! What'll you do if you don't try your best now?"

"_Beat ya senseless…"_ thought Jaden. _"I'd do that right now, but I rather not get in trouble…"_

"The day we call 'today' won't last for just today!" said Ayanokouji.

Jaden opened one of her eyes and looked at Ayanokouji as she lifted herself slightly off the ground.

"Isn't that obvious?" she said. "W-What's with this heated guy?"

Ayanokouji smiled at Jaden as he continued on.

"And the day we call 'tomorrow' is written as a bright day!" said Ayanokouji. "Now, hit 50 more balls for tomorrow's sake!"

Jaden sat up straight and ignore the pain as she stared at Ayanokouji in shock.

"Eh?" she exclaimed. "50 more balls?"

Jaden blinked and diverted her eyes as she spotted Shou, Momoe, and Junko standing a few feet away from the court she and Ayanokouji were using.

"Well?" said Ayanokouji. "Get in the spirit! Do your best with me! Your sweat and tears will lead to food for tomorrow! Hurrah for such lovely youth!"

Jaden groaned and rubbed her backside. Shou and Junko stared strangely at Ayanokouji.

"That club captain…" said Shou. "He's got a flirty smile, and what he's saying about winning is so dramatic…"

"Seriously, I don't get what he means, either," said Junko.

Momoe, on the other hand, closed her eyes and smiled dreamily.

"It's fine, isn't it?" asked Momoe. "As long as he's got good looks!"

~47 balls hit later~

Jaden hit another ball served at her while keeping her count. She was downright exhausted by the time she hit her last ball that when she swung her racket and hit the ball, she fell down forward onto the ground.

"50!" she said wearily. "I'm done!"

The ball Jaden had hit bounced on the ground and rolled over to where Asuka, who had just arrived, stood. Asuka bent down and picked up the ball, catching the attention of her roommates and Shou.

"It's Asuka!" said Momoe.

Ayanokouji perked up and turned his head at the mere mention of Asuka's name.

"Asuka-kun?" he said, giving a dazzling smile.

Asuka walked towards Jaden, to which Ayanokouji assumed she came to see him and was currently walking towards him and not the scrawny Osiris Red who had managed to make somewhat of a mess in the locker rooms. He ran up to Asuka and closed his eyes as he waved to her with a smile.

"Oi, Asuka-kun!" said Ayanokouji. "Glad to see you! To think you came to see—"

Ayanokouji trailed off as he realized that Asuka ignored him. He opened his eyes and stared wide-eyed at Asuka as she walked towards Jaden.

"Huh?" he exclaimed.

Jaden was on the ground faced down, her eyes closed as she tried to rest up. She had just finished hitting 150 balls, created somewhat of a mess in the locker room, was almost undressed by Ayanokouji (even though he wasn't actually going to do it) who was the reason she caused the mess, who's to say she isn't exhausted? She just landed on her tailbone for crying out loud and had to hit another 50 balls afterwards while enduring the pain and exhaustion! If her father ever found out what happened, lest assure he would go ballistic.

"Hey, Jaden!" said Asuka. "I've got something to tell you."

Jaden opened her eyes and lifted her head up in question as she looked at Asuka. Asuka walked around the net and over to Jaden before helping the gender-mistaken girl up.

"I heard it from Daitokuji-sensei a bit earlier, but it sounds like someone said they saw Manjoume-kun," said Asuka.

Jaden immediately perked up to Manjoume's name and forgot about her exhaustion and pain.

"Manjoume?" said Jaden. "Where is he?"

"Well…" said Asuka.

Ayanokouji watched as both Jaden and Asuka conversed. Imaginary flames emanated from the enraged Third-Year Obelisk Blue as he glared at Jaden with flames in his eyes.

"To think Asuka-kun's talking so intimately to Jaden-kun…" said Ayanokouji. "I'm filled with the burning rage of jealousy right now! Get away from him, Asuka-kun!"

Both Jaden and Asuka turned their head to Ayanokouji and looked at him perplexed. Ayanokouji walked over to the two girls (one of which he still thought was a boy).

"I don't really want to tell you this, but…" said Ayanokouji. "Asuka-kun, an Obelisk Blue fairy like you is out of an Osiris Red like Jaden-kun's league!"

Shou blinked owlishly.

"Obelisk Blue fairy?" repeated Shou.

Shou looked up as a small simulation played in his naïve mind which consisted of a couple of Winged Obelisk the Tormentors flying over a field of flowers. His face distorted into one of disgust at the thought of how an Obelisk Blue fairy looked.

"Ew…that's awful…" said Shou.

A/N Shou is so naïve and sweet…which is what makes him even more adorable and **Yuri n' Chuka** agrees with me, right?

Ayanokouji stared at Asuka and Jaden with red eyes as flames continued to emanate from him.

"Asuka-kun!" he said. "A man like me is most suitable for you!"

Jaden blinked and looked over Ayanokouji before scoffing at him.

"You can't call yourself a man in those tiny tennis shorts…" said Jaden.

Asuka blinked and looked over Ayanokouji. She snorted and covered her mouth immediately as she tried to keep herself from laughing.

"_Damn it, Jaden,"_ she thought. _"Why did you have to say that? Pfft…"_

Thankfully, Ayanokouji ignored Jaden and didn't hear Asuka as she giggled quietly. He continued to glare at Jaden.

"Now, please, don't blame me and get away from Jaden-kun!" said Ayanokouji.

Jaden blinked and put two and two together to why Ayanokouji was acing this way. It took her a few moments before she realized that the Tennis Club captain had it the wrong way.

"H-Hold it!" said Jaden. "Aren't you getting the wrong idea? Me and her aren't really…"

Suddenly, Ayanokouji popped up in between Jaden and Asuka, scaring the crap out of Jaden as she tried to prevent herself from acting out her taught reflex (the same one she used on poor Daichi and anything similar to that).

"I don't need you unsightly excuses, Jaden-kun!" snapped Ayanokouji.

Jaden sighed and realized why he was acting this way. He still thought she was a boy and had feelings for Asuka. She waved it off as she began to explain his misconception.

"N-No, I'm telling you…" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji laughed and stared Jaden right in the eye as he said, "You're calling Asuka-kun a 'her', are you? To think you've got such a close relationship…"

Something within Jaden snapped and she lost all control, as a result, she ended up acting out her reflex. She closed her eyes, shrieked, and punched Ayanokouji in the stomach all at once. Asuka stared wide-eyed at Jaden.

"Jaden!" exclaimed Asuka.

Jaden opened her eyes and stared at Ayanokouji, whom was currently holding on his stomach, Guilt took its effect on Jaden as she flailed her hands and looked sheepishly at the captain.

"Oh, crap!" said Jaden. "Sorry, Ayanokouji!"

Ayanokouji looked up at Jaden and glared at the Osiris Red. First he (remember, mistaken gender!) and Asuka talked intimately to each other, and then tried to make an excuse, now this!

"Jaden-kun!" growled Ayanokouji. "Duel with me!"

Jaden blinked and responded back to the captain's request, "Listen to what someone's telling you!"

Ayanokouji walked past Jaden and stopped by her side. She turned around and looked at him questioningly.

"If you're a duelist, too, then how about we use this duel to settle things man-to-man?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Oh, come on…just what are we settling?" asked Jaden.

Imaginary flames continued to emanate from the tennis captain as he stared out.

"To sum it up, the winner will become Asuka-kun's fiancée!" answered Ayanokouji.

Asuka's eyes widened.

"W-Wait a second!" she exclaimed. "What are you—"

Momoe cut off Asuka as the raven-haired girl clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily.

"My, did he say 'fiancée'?" said Momoe.

Junko placed her hands on her hips.

"When did that chat turn into something like that?" asked Junko.

Jaden smiled and held up her fist. She had no clue what Ayanokouji meant by fiancée, but after being challenged to a duel, she was not backing out despite her earlier attempts to prevent it. She was too stubborn to refuse a duel anyhow.

"Heh, I don't really get what you mean, but I'm a guy who'll take on any challenged duel!" said Jaden. "All right! I'll accept your duel!"

Asuka gasped as both Shou and Junko looked questioningly at Jaden. Momoe was too wrapped up in her emotions caused by the type of situation Asuka seemed to be in. If only she knew…

"You're accepting?" asked Junko.

"T-Things turned into such trouble…" remarked Shou.

Few moments later,

Ayanokouji tied his shoes after placing his duel disk on his left arm. He stood up and stared at Jaden, who had just finished placing on her duel disk.

"Let's do this, Jaden-kun!" Ayanokouji said as he activated his duel disk.

Jaden smiled and activated her duel disk as well.

"Right!" she said. "That's just what I wanted!" _"And needed to get rid of this pent up rage…"_

Both Jaden and Ayanokouji faced off for a few second before shouting, "Duel!"

Jaden:

LP

4000

Ayanokouji:

LP

4000

Asuka stood in between Momoe and Junko as she crossed her arms. Momoe smiled at Asuka.

"My, Asuka, to think those two gentlemen are dueling for you…" said Momoe. "It's too cool!"

Asuka looked down and closed her eyes.

"It's stupid…I'm fed up with this…" said Asuka.

Junko closed her eyes and grinned at Asuka.

"That's what you're saying, but you're still paying attention!" said Junko.

Asuka looked at Junko sternly.

"That Tennis Club captain, Mitsuru Ayanokouji…" Asuka said in a slightly aggravated tone.

Junko was taken aback with Asuka's reaction.

"I just want to see the dueling skills that are said to rival Ryou Marufuji's for myself!" stated Asuka.

Shou's eyes widened at Asuka's comment.

"_That rival my Onii-san's?"_ thought Shou. _"That's blasphemy…or is it? That flirting captain…is he that good?"_

Ayanokouji grinned at Jaden, his teeth gleaming in the light. He reached for his deck.

"It's my turn," he said, drawing his card. "Draw!"

Ayanokouji looked at his hand.

"The first to strike is the first to victory!" he said, activating a Magic card. "The Magic card, Service Ace!"

Jaden blinked and stared at the Magic card on Ayanokouji's field.

"A Magic card right of the bat, huh?" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji grinned widely at Jaden.

"Well, this card's a gamble card that makes you guess the type of a card I choose," explained Ayanokouji.

Jaden stared at Ayanokouji as he held up a card, her mouth open slightly in wonder.

"Is it a Magic?" asked Ayanokouji. "A Trap? Or even a Monster? If you get it right nicely, you'll be okay. But if you get it wrong, Jaden-kun, you'll end up taking 1500 points of damage."

Jaden smiled and held up her fist.

"Sounds interesting!" she said, focusing her eyes on the card Ayanokouji held. _"Okay…"_

Jaden continued to stare at the card in Ayanokouji. Shou smiled and tightened his fists.

"Man, it's already nerve-wracking!" said Shou.

"It happens sometimes," said Momoe.

Jaden stared at the card in Ayanokouji's hand and clenched her teeth. Apparently, guessing took a lot on her since it seemed to be getting all worked up. Ayanokouji noticed and frowned as he sweat dropped.

"Hey, come on…" he said, closing his eyes and grinning afterwards. "You couldn't possibly be getting so worked up over this card?"

Jaden growled as she wracked through her head on the possibility of the card Ayanokouji held. After coming to a standstill, she held up her fist.

"It's a Magic card!" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji blinked and turned to Jaden wearing a grin.

"You sure about that?" he asked, waving the card a bit as if to tease Jaden. "If you want to change your mind, now's your chance."

Jaden blinked and clenched her teeth as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"H-Hold on!" she said. "It's a Trap…I'm switching to a Trap card!"

Ayanokouji grinned at Jaden and turned the card over.

"A Monster card," said Ayanokouji. "Sorry, looks like you were wrong on both ends!"

Jaden clenched her teeth as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"Shit…" said Jaden.

"Then, I'll remove this card from the game…" said Ayanokouji. "And with Service Ace's effect…I deal 1500 damage to the opposing player!"

A light shot out from the card on Ayanokouji's field and hit Jaden. Jaden shielded herself from the hit and yelped when it came in contact with her.

Jaden:

LP

2500

Jaden glared at Ayanokouji as he grinned.

"Fifteen Love!" said Ayanokouji. "Next, I'll set one reversed card, ending my turn!"

Ayanokouji set down a face-down card that appeared on his field. Jaden reached for her deck.

"All right, now it's my turn!" Jaden said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at her card, her thoughts focused on the life points she lost.

"_So I've already taken a lot of damage, huh?"_ thought Jaden. _"He's got no monsters on his field…"_

Jaden placed the card in her hand and switched it out with a different card.

"_Here goes!"_ she thought as she played a card. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian!"

Elemental Hero Avian appeared on the field with his wings covering himself before he opened them.

ATK 1000

"Now, go!" said Jaden. "Attack that flirting club captain directly! Take this! Feather Flash!"

Avian jumped into the air and let out a cascade of sharp feathers from himself at Ayanokouji. Ayanokouji grinned and activated the card on his field.

"Reversed card, open!" said Ayanokouji. "The Trap card, Receive Ace! It negates a direct attack and deals 1500 damage to the opposing player!"

A strong gust of wing from the card on Ayanokouji's field sent the feathers Avian shot out towards Jaden. Jaden blinked and shielded herself from the gusty wind and feathers.

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden:

LP

1000

Jaden glared at Ayanokouji as he grinned at her.

"Thirty Love!" said Ayanokouji. "As its cost, I send three cards from my deck to the Graveyard."

Jaden watched as Ayanokouji discarded three of his cards before she reached for her hand.

"I set one reversed card face-down, ending my turn," said Jaden.

Jaden stared at Ayanokouji. Junko blinked and turned to Shou.

"Is he all right over there?" asked Junko. "He's already down to 1000 life points, isn't he?"

Shou scowled since if Jaden kept this up, Ayanokouji would win.

"Snap out of it, Aniki!" yelled Shou. "At this rate, Asuka-san's going to be that flirting club captain's fiancée!"

Momoe smiled and clasped her hands together.

"I'm so jealous!" said Momoe.

Asuka crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

"_When is she going to tell him?"_ thought Asuka.

Ayanokouji reached for his deck.

"It's my turn!" he said, drawing a card. "Draw! Let's get down to it…with this!"

Ayanokouji played the card in his hand.

"The Magic card, Smash Ace!" he said. "I flip over one card from the top of my deck, and if that card's a Monster…it'll deal you 1000 points of damage, Jaden-kun."

Jaden blinked.

"What's the deal?" asked Jaden. "Is that all you've got?"

"Sorry, but that's how I duel," Ayanokouji replied, giving Jaden a dazzling smile afterwards before reaching for his deck. "And the first card…is a Monster card!"

Jaden groaned and placed her hand on her head.

"Man, this guy's too lucky!" said Jaden.

"Heh, the luck of the draw is just one of my skills," said Ayanokouji. "Now, try my Smash Ace for size!"

A whirlwind appeared in the air and sent a blast of energy at Jaden. Jaden intervened and activated the card on her field.

"Not so fast!" she said. "Reversed card, open! I activate the Trap card, Feather Wind! It negates a Magic card's effect!"

Jaden smiled and held up her fist as she saw the shocked look on Ayanokouji's face.

"What?" he exclaimed.

Avian got in front of the blast and blocked it off using his wings. The blast was sent elsewhere, which just so happened to be where Shou, Asuka, Junko, and Momoe were. The four huddled up as the blast hit them and covered their surroundings with smoke. Once the smoke cleared up, they focused their attention back on the duel.

"What the—?" exclaimed Ayanokouji.

Jaden laughed and smiled.

"An eye for an eye, and a Trap for a Trap!" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji gritted his teeth and then grinned, showing off yet another dazzling set of teeth. Jaden narrowed her eyes.

"_Can he stop it with the twinkling teeth?"_ thought Jaden.

"Not bad, Jaden-kun!" said Ayanokouji. "That makes you my rival! You're indeed a worthy rival!"

Jaden blinked as Ayanokouji began to laugh. She looked perplexed at the tennis club captain.

"Wha…?" she said. "You and me, rivals?"

Jaden smiled at the thought of it.

"That's something interesting!" remarked Jaden. "Man, that's a laugh!"

Jaden started to laugh along with Ayanokouji despite their 3000 life point difference. Shou sighed while Junko and Momoe stared at the laughing duo in question. Asuka kept her arms crossed as she closed her eyes.

"Come on…" said Shou.

"What could those two be doing, I wonder…" said Junko.

Momoe smiled awkwardly as a small blush tinged her cheeks.

"The game's gone in a weird direction…" commented Momoe.

Ayanokouji stopped laughing and smirked at Jaden.

"With 1000 life points left, this isn't the time to laugh, right, Jaden-kun?" Ayanokouji asked as Jaden continued to laugh. "Or could it be you're laughing to cover up your failure? But then, that's something an Osiris Red like you would do!"

That caught Jaden's attention as she stopped laughing and looked at Ayanokouji questioningly. After realizing what he said, Jaden scowled and held up her fist.

"You're the one who shouldn't be laughing, aren't you?" asked Jaden. "Take a good look at your field! Even if I got done in by your Trap earlier, this time, your field's empty! Here goes! My turn!"

Jaden drew a card and looked at it.

"_Alright!" _she thought, smiling as she held it up. "I activate the Magic card, Polymerization! I'll fuse Elemental Heroes Clayman and Burstinatrix…and summon Elemental Hero Rampart Gunner!"

Rampart Gunner appeared on the field after the fusion of Clayman and Burstinatrix.

ATK 2000

"All right!" said Shou. "Go on and finish him in one shot, Aniki!"

Jaden blinked and looked at Shou with a smile.

"Right!" she said as she tightened her fist. "Here goes! Get ready for it! I use Avian to attack directly!"

Avian jumped into the air and charged up a sphere of energy into his hand before throwing it at Ayanokouji. Ayanokouji yelled as flames engulfed him from the sphere of energy that hit him.

Ayanokouji:

LP

3000

"And next up, I use Rampart Gunner to attack directly!" said Jaden. "Rampart Shot!"

Rampart Gunner launched her missiles at Ayanokouji, creating a small explosion around the Tennis Club captain. Ayanokouji winced as the smoke from the explosion began to clear.

Ayanokouji:

LP

1000

Ayanokouji glared at Jaden, who held up her fist and smiled after closing her eyes.

"My turn's ended!" said Jaden.

Shou jumped up and pumped his fist into the air.

"All right!" exclaimed Shou. "You're awesome, Aniki!"

Jaden laughed and gave Shou a V-sign. Asuka looked at Jaden and sighed in annoyance.

"Geez…she really gets carried away so easily…" murmured Asuka.

Junko and Momoe heard Asuka and looked at each other questioningly.

"Well, with this, we're back to where we started!" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji smirked.

"But are we really?" asked Ayanokouji. "It's my turn. Draw."

Ayanokouji looked at the card he finished drawing.

"I've been waiting for this chance, Jaden-kun," he said, reaching for a card in his hand. "I activate the Permanent Magic, Deuce!" (2)

Jaden looked questioningly at Ayanokouji as she scratched the side of her head idly with her finger.

"Another Magic?" questioned Jaden.

Ayanokouji gestured at the Magic card on his field as he explained.

"This is a Permanent Magic that I can activate…when the opposing player's and my own life points are at an equal 1000 points," said Ayanokouji. "Both players are only allowed to attack with one monster during their Battle Phase."

Ayanokouji began to comb his hair with a comb he took out of his pocket.

"And life points are insignificant," he added. "Victory goes to the player who inflicts damage twice in a row."

Ayanokouji put his comb back in his pocket and gave Jaden a dazzling smile. Jaden looked at the Tennis Club captain questioningly.

"What the—?" said Jaden. "You changed the winning conditions?"

Asuka looked at Jaden.

"It's just like the rules of tennis," remarked Asuka.

Ayanokouji smiled.

"I'll end this duel right here and now," said Ayanokouji. "I summon Legendary Big Server!"

A tall, muscular man wearing a yellow polo shirt and blue shorts with a tennis racket for a right arm appeared on Ayanokouji's side of the field. The man clenched his teeth and tightened his fist as he swung his right arm.

ATK 300

"My Legendary Big Server is able to bypass my opponent's monsters and wage a direct attack," Ayanokouji explained, smirking afterwards at Jaden. "Now, go, Legendary Big Server! Big Serve!"

Legendary Big Server yelled and threw up a spiked-ball into the air before using his racket-arm to serve the ball overhand to Jaden. Jaden clenched her teeth and shielded herself, yelling out once the ball came in contact with her.

Jaden:

LP

700

Jaden opened once eye and looked at Ayanokouji. Ayanokouji smiled and held up a finger.

"Advantage: Ayanokouji!" he said, gesturing at the Magic card on his field. "And due to the effect of the Permanent Magic, Deuce, if I can deal you damage again in a row…I'll win this duel!"

Jaden clenched her teeth and grunted. A small little scoreboard appeared over the dueling duelists, indicating Deuce's affect. (A/N X= 1 point(s) O= 0 point(s))

Ayanokouji: XO

Jaden: OO

"Next, since I dealt damage to you, Legendary Big Server's Monster Effect activates!" said Ayanokouji.

Ayanokouji took out his deck and picked out a card before placing the deck back in his duel disk. He looked at Jaden and held up the card he took out of his deck.

"From my deck, I add the Magic card, Service Ace, to my hand!" said Ayanokouji. "And the opposing player draws one card. Well, Jaden-kun, go on and draw."

Jaden reached for her deck and drew a card. She looked at the card in her hand.

"All right?" said Ayanokouji. "Here goes! I activate the Magic card, Service Ace! Well, it's that time again, Jaden-kun!"

Ayanokouji picked out a card from his hand and held it up for Jaden to see and guess what it is.

"A Magic?" asked Ayanokouji. "A Trap? Or even a Monster?"

"Alright, this time, I'll get it right!" Jaden said, focusing her gaze on the card Ayanokouji held in his hand afterwards. _"That other time, it was a…monster, I think…"_

Shou looked nervously at the duel.

"_The odds are one-in-three…"_ thought Shou.

Asuka looked at Jaden.

"_Jaden…if you're the real deal, you should be able to guess it right…"_ thought Asuka.

Jaden's breath hitched as she stared at the card in Ayanokouji's hand.

"_Now, prove to me you're the real deal!"_ thought Asuka.

Jaden closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.

"All right!" she said. "That's a Monster card!"

Jaden opened her eyes and looked at Ayanokouji. Ayanokouji's eyes widened as he gasped before he quickly smiled and turned the card over for Jaden to see.

"Pulled it off nicely," Ayanokouji complimented.

Jaden grinned and pumped her fist into the air.

"Awright!" exclaimed Jaden.

Shou pumped his fist into the air as he applauded his Aniki while Junko and Momoe stared at Jaden in awe. Asuka smiled at Jaden.

"Aniki did it!" exclaimed Shou. "Aniki guessed it right!"

Ayanokouji looked at the only card in his hand and played it.

"Finally, I activate the Equip Magic, Giant Racket!" said Ayanokouji. "I'll equip it to my Legendary Big Server!"

A bright light glowed around Legendary Big Server before a racket-like net appeared on his back.

"My turn's ended," said Ayanokouji.

Jaden smiled at Ayanokouji.

"Looks like the wind's direction has changed, doesn't it?" asked Jaden.

"Are you thinking I don't have a strategy?" asked Ayanokouji. "Then, let me tell you: The monster equipped with Giant Racket can reduce its Battle Damage to zero once!"

Jaden was taken aback.

"So you're saying…" said Jaden. "That combo you have with that Permanent Magic, Deuce…makes it so Legendary Big Server won't be destroyed!"

Ayanokouji grinned.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," he said.

Jaden smiled as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head.

"_Not bad, you flirting club captain…"_ Jaden thought, clenching her teeth afterwards. _"But it's time I won this! If I don't settle things now, I won't win."_

Jaden looked at her duel disk.

"_I'm counting on you, my deck!"_ she thought, reaching for her deck. "My turn! Draw!"

Ayanokouji kept his composure as Jaden drew a card. Jaden looked at her card and smiled, taking Ayanokouji completely by surprise.

"It's here!" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji's eyes widened.

"What?" exclaimed Ayanokouji.

"This duel's mine!" Jaden stated as she held the card she drew in her hand. "I activate the Magic card, De-Fusion! I'm splitting Rampart Gunner's fusion!"

Rampart Gunner split back into her two original selves from before Polymerization had been used. Clayman and Burstinatrix appeared on the field by Avian's side.

"With this, I've got three monsters!" Jaden said as she held up her fist. "Even if you dodge my first attack, with two more attacks following it, you'll lose this!"

Ayanokouji smirked and laughed at Jaden.

"This is why Osiris Reds are foolish!" Ayanokouji said, placing his hand on his head. "You've got three monsters? You're attacking three times?"

Ayanokouji pointed at the Magic card on his field and continued on, "As long as the Permanent Magic, Deuce, is activated, you can't attack with more than one monster!"

Jaden grinned widely and covered her mouth to prevent Ayanokouji from seeing her grin.

"This is why Obelisk Blues are idiots!" remarked Jaden.

Ayanokouji looked at Jaden perplexed.

"What?" he said.

Junko and Momoe glared daggers at Jaden for her remark. Asuka shook her head and sighed.

"I activate the Magic card, Feather Shot!" Jaden said as she held up her card.

Ayanokouji's eyes widened as Jaden explained the card's effect.

"This is a card that lets Avian attack for each monster on my field!" explained Jaden.

Avian crossed his arms again as he waited for Jaden to direct her attack. Ayanokouji was taken aback.

"N-No way!" said Ayanokouji.

Jaden grinned.

"It's the card I drew when you activated Legendary Big Server's effect!" she said, remembering what she was told before she drew Feather Shot.

"_Well, Jaden-kun, go on and draw,"_ Ayanokouji's voice echoed.

"Looks like the luck of the draw's one of _my_ skills!" Jaden said with a grin. "Here goes the last battle!"

Avian took his stance as Jaden began to direct her attack.

"I attack with Elemental Hero Avian!" said Jaden. "Feather Shot K3!"

Avian flew up into the air and flapped his wings, sending a cascade of sharp feathers at Legendary Big Server. Legendary Big Server used the racket on his back to ricochet the feathers sent at him. Avian flapped his wings once more and sent another array of sharp feathers, destroying Legendary Big Server.

Ayanokouji gasped as Jaden smiled while the scoreboard appeared again.

Ayanokouji: XO

Jaden: XO

Asuka uncrossed her arms and cupped her hands around her mouth. She had had enough of Ayanokouji and since Jaden still haven't notified him of her true gender yet, Asuka decided to do it for the Osiris Red before the duel ended.

"Oi, Mitsuru Ayanokouji!" shouted Asuka. "Before you jump to conclusions, Jaden Yuki is a girl! You had it all wrong from the beginning!"

Ayanokouji's eyes widened at Asuka's statement as Avian leapt up into the air. Just before Avian let out his attack, Jaden crossed her arms and smiled at Ayanokouji.

"She's right, Ayanokouji," said Jaden. "This is why you should listen instead of making assumptions! Go, Avian!"

Avian nodded and let out his final attack with yet another array of sharp feathers directed at a wide-eyed Ayanokouji. Before the feathers hit him, Ayanokouji put two and two together about today's earlier events.

"_That's why she reacted that way!"_ Ayanokouji thought before he was pelted by sharp feathers.

Ayanokouji: XO

Jaden: XX

WINNER: Jaden!

Out of the four students that consisted of Shou, Junko, Momoe, and Asuka, Shou was the only one currently cheering. He jumped up and pumped his fist into the air.

"All right!" exclaimed Shou. "Aniki won!"

Shou blinked and looked at the Obelisk Blue girls after noticing that he was the only one cheering.

"Oi, uh…who were you cheering for?" asked Shou.

Shou got no answer from Junko or Momoe as they were too busy staring wide-eyed at Jaden. Both were still very much shocked about what they just heard, however, it did make some sense to Junko when she remembered the incident involving Manjoume and SAL (A/N Go back to chapter 10 unless you still remember what happened).

Either way, Junko was still shocked at the discovery. Unlike her roommate, Momoe reacted differently after recovering from her shock. The raven-haired Obelisk Blue looked at Jaden, her eyes in a stunned trance-like state.

"Jaden-kun…is a girl?" Momoe muttered under her breath, an oddly blank look on her face.

Ayanokouji was on the ground on his knees, trembling as he lamented his loss.

"I lost…" he said.

Jaden pumped her fist into the air as her monsters disappeared from her field.

"Yay!" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji stopped and looked up as Jaden pointed two fingers at him and winked at him.

"Gotcha!" she said with a smile.

Despite after all that just happened… Ayanokouji couldn't help but find Jaden adorable despite her lack of feminine charm that Asuka had. Then again, what Asuka had just made her beautiful…speaking of Asuka.

Ayanokouji just realized that Asuka was now Jaden's fiancée and even though the Osiris Red was a girl, she didn't seem to mind and neither did Asuka. Which meant…Asuka was now out of his reach!

"H-How could I lose this?" wailed Ayanokouji.

Jaden blinked and looked questioningly at the Tennis Club captain. Tears were streaming down his eyes like waterfalls as he looked remorsefully at the gender-mistaken girl. He gave one last look at Asuka before running off, crying, leaving Jaden perplexed.

"Wha…?" she said.

Jaden watched Ayanokouji run off as Shou, Momoe, Junko, and Asuka walked up to her.

"You did it, Aniki!" Shou said with a smile. "You really are something!"

Jaden blinked and turned as her blue-haired friend latched onto her waist. She grinned widely and rubbed the back of her head.

"It was nothing!" said Jaden. "It was nothing!"

Junko and Momoe stared at Jaden as she ruffled Shou's hair. They were speechless at what they just learned a few moments ago. Their Osiris Red friend Asuka had introduced to them a few days after school had started was really a girl. All this time…Asuka never once told them about it!

Junko looked at Asuka.

"Asuka-san!" said Junko. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Asuka blinked and gave her friend a small smile.

"I told you now, didn't I?" asked Asuka. "Besides, even if you had asked, I would have only told you to go ask Jaden herself."

Junko crossed her arms and sighed.

"Still…is this okay?" asked Junko.

Asuka looked at Junko questioningly.

"Huh?" said Asuka.

Junko gestured at Jaden.

"She won," said Junko. "Wouldn't that make you her fiancée now?"

Asuka blinked and repeated, "'Fiancée'?"

Jaden blinked and took Shou off herself, having heard Asuka. She walked over to the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue scratching the back of her head as she smiled.

"Well, Asuka, I ended up winning, but…" said Jaden.

Asuka looked at Jaden as the gender-mistaken girl walked up to her.

"_She isn't serious, is she?"_ thought Asuka.

Shou looked at Jaden perplexed while Junko smiled. Momoe was still staring at Jaden, her face blank.

"Huh?" said Shou. "Aniki, you couldn't…"

Junko clasped her hands together and looked at Jaden and Asuka. Neither seemed to protest about the 'fiancée' thing and Asuka never did show any interest in guys…or so Junko thought. Despite them both being girls, love _did_ work in many ways and who's to say it couldn't happen?

"_Love has no barriers,"_ Junko thought as she sighed. "She's confessing her love!"

Asuka looked down at Jaden, having been a few inches taller than the Osiris Red girl. She arched her eyebrow at the clueless look the gender-mistaken girl gave her.

"_Don't tell me…and at this age…"_ thought Asuka.

Sure enough, the words that came out of Jaden's mouth in the form of a question soon confirmed Asuka's assumption.

"What's a 'fiancée'?" asked Jaden.

That definitely broke the 'supposed' moment. Shou and Junko fell back anime-style while Momoe walked towards Jaden. Asuka looked at Jaden for a few moments before closing her eyes and looking down.

"You idiot…" said Asuka.

Jaden blinked and turned when someone placed their hand on her shoulder. It was Momoe and she was currently looking over at Jaden.

"You're…a girl?" asked Momoe.

Jaden blinked again and nodded. Momoe stared at the Osiris Red as if she was trying to comprehend what was in front of her. Asuka, Shou, and Junko stared at Momoe, wondering what was wrong with her.

Momoe slowly blinked when a sudden grin appeared on her lips as she made a noise that sounded eerily like a squeal of delight. She lunged forward and hugged Jaden in a friendly-like manner.

"Aw, so cute!" said Momoe. "I knew there was something different about you!"

Compared to how everyone took the Osiris Red's true gender, Momoe's was the most surprising one. She seemed pleased with the fact Jaden was a girl for some strange reason. Whatever it was, Junko seemed to have caught on and looked at Asuka.

"What's she doing in Osiris Red?" asked Junko.

Asuka looked at Junko and smiled.

"Registration mishap," replied Asuka. "Samejima-san himself didn't know until he got a call from Jaden's father on the day we arrived to the island. I was supposed to have escorted Jaden around the Obelisk Blue dorms, but…"

Junko nodded and looked at Jaden.

"Jaden-kun decided to stay in Osiris Red, huh?" said Junko.

"Right," said Asuka. "So, what's on your mind?"

Junko looked back at Asuka and smiled.

"I'd thought you'd never ask," said Junko.

Asuka crossed her arms and looked at Jaden and Momoe.

"So, I take it we're bringing her along with us to the Obelisk Blue dorms," said Asuka.

Junko placed her hand on her chin.

"That shirt does look a bit big on her…" said Junko.

Asuka sighed and gave a small smile.

"All right, we can bring her," said Asuka.

Junko immediately took no time to hesitate and dashed over to Momoe and Jaden. Jaden looked questioningly at Momoe and Junko as the latter whispered into the other's ear. Momoe looked at Junko and nodded, letting go of Jaden afterwards.

Jaden looked at Junko and Momoe as they stared at her. After a few moments, her expression tensed as an ominous feeling struck her. Something told her that the looks Momoe and Junko gave her weren't exactly a good sign…

Suddenly, Jaden felt herself lifted off the ground by her armpits in a certain twin-like manner by Junko and Momoe. Jaden looked questioningly at Junko and Momoe.

"Target…" said Junko.

"…captured!" finished Momoe. (3)

Jaden did not like the sound of that as her expression grew nervous.

"What are you doing?" asked Jaden.

Momoe and Junko looked at each other and giggled before dragging Jaden away. Jaden's eyes turned huge and shone with unshed tears after finding herself being dragged away against her will.

"Where are we going?" wailed Jaden.

Shou watched questioningly as Junko and Momoe dragged a puppy-dog-eyed Jaden along with them away. Asuka walked up to Shou's side and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Shou-kun," reassured Asuka. "We're just taking Jaden with us to the Obelisk Blue dorms. She'll be back."

Shou blinked and nodded.

"Oh, okay…see you tomorrow, Asuka-san," said Shou.

Asuka nodded and smiled at Shou before breaking into a run as she tried to catch up with her roommates and their 'victim'. Shou watched as his friends dragged his Aniki away before sighing.

"Good luck, Aniki," said Shou.

After dragging their struggling Osiris Red friend, Junko and Momoe wondered how they managed to get into the girls' dorm without anyone spotting them whatsoever. Asuka wondered that herself since Jaden wasn't exactly going along that easily, what, with her dragging her feet across the ground and her short, but sudden outbursts.

Jaden felt like Asuka had turned against her when the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue helped her friends by opening the door to the dorm for them. A few moments later, Jaden sighed as Momoe and Junko finally let her go. At that time, they were in Asuka's room, which was rather roomy, in Jaden's opinion.

Jaden looked at Asuka as the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue walked over to her. Momoe and Junko quickly left the room. Jaden got a feeling they were going to come back again…

"Sorry about that, Jaden, but it was their idea," said Asuka.

Jaden glared at Asuka.

"Then why didn't you stop them?" asked Jaden. "I have a room to move into today!"

Asuka shrugged, annoying Jaden slightly.

"You're no help…" muttered Jaden. "And they didn't even give me a chance to get my gym clothes…"

"If it helps, I got one of the tennis club members to put them in your locker," said Asuka.

Jaden sighed.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret not escaping while I have the chance?" asked Jaden.

Asuka crossed her arms and looked at Jaden.

"You know you could go now before Junko and Momoe come back, right?" said Asuka.

At that moment, the door opened and in came Junko and Momoe, both holding a couple of neatly folded towels, clothes, and bags in their hands.

"Speak of the devil," said Asuka.

Jaden groaned inwardly.

"_Why didn't I leave sooner?"_ thought Jaden. _"Could this get any worse?"_

"Oi, Asuka-san!" said Junko. "No one's in the bathhouse!"

Momoe nodded.

"That means we have the whole place to ourselves!" said Momoe.

Apparently, it just did…

"_And c'mon!" _thought Jaden. _"Just when I think it…"_

A few moments later,

Jaden was not happy after being dragged once again by Junko and Momoe…especially since they took her to the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm's bathhouse. Her clothes were taken off by Junko and Momoe rather forcefully seeing as she wasn't being cooperative. Thankfully, Asuka helped her out by giving her a towel, but that was just about it until they entered the bathhouse.

The Osiris Red stared in awe at the size of the bathhouse. Aside from its size, it was also quite exquisite in design with a three layer, fountain-like structure. Rocks were placed in different sections on the biggest, but lowest of the three layers. On the smallest, but the top layer of the bath, was a large pillar decorated with lion heads with open mouths, which was where part of the bath water was flowing out of.

Despite being in a rather awkward position that shouldn't be awkward since she was of the same gender as her friends, Jaden couldn't help but let out a small 'Wow'. Her voice echoed, emphasizing the emptiness and huge size that was the bathhouse. Compared to the Osiris Red bathhouse, the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm's bathhouse was bigger and also had more class to its style. However, compared to the hot spring that was often used by the Osiris Red dorm to bathe usually by choice or preference (mostly preference); Jaden would have to say it was a tie.

After one conversation-filled bath later,

Jaden would rather not ever speak about what had happened in the bathhouse. It wasn't like anything that bad had happened, but it was, however, embarrassing. She made a mental note that if she ever took a bath with her Obelisk Blue friends, the first thing she would do would be to distance herself from Junko. The last thing she needed was for the rufous-haired girl to come in contact with her chest. Dear Ra, never again…it was already embarrassing for the Osiris Red to bathe with her friends, but also with friends that happen to have better, and curvier feminine physiques than hers. The only good thing that came out of the experience was that she had finally gotten over the privacy-liking factor…by only a bit.

The thing she could've without aside from the bathhouse experience, was the choice in clothes Junko and Momoe picked out for her, which just so happened to consist of the Obelisk Blue female uniform. The white top with blue trimmings, she didn't mind despite its slightly baggy fit on her, but the blue miniskirt…she could do without. It was a bit too short for her tastes, but thankfully, Asuka helped out by giving her a pair of black shorts to wear under.

The four girls (three of which were in their nightwear) were currently having a conversation on Asuka's bed. Asuka began to wonder what was the point of Junko and Momoe having their own rooms when they usually preferred to stay in hers. She sighed and continued to listen as Jaden finished her conversation about her registration mishap.

"And that's how I ended up in Osiris Red," said Jaden. "They just finished building my room."

Momoe and Junko nodded, having been eagerly listening. Hey, it wasn't just every day you happened to discover one of your friends previously thought male was really female. Both girls were making most of their opportunity to exploit that occasion.

"So, when did you discover they made a mistake?" asked Junko.

Jaden blinked and crossed her arms.

"When they gave me the uniform," said Jaden. "I didn't mind…my dad did so when Samejima got the phone call…yeah."

Junko lied on Asuka's bed on her stomach with her elbows propped onto the mattress, her hands under her cheeks for support as she stared at Jaden curiously.

"So, Jaden-kun…I'm curious," said Junko. "What kind of products do you use on your skin?"

Momoe nodded and looked at Jaden.

"Yes, it's so pretty!" said Momoe.

Jaden blinked and ignored the question as she looked over at the window. She noticed that it was beginning to get late.

"Uh…can I go now?" asked Jaden.

Junko and Momoe were about to protest, but Asuka decided Jaden had had enough.

"You can," said Asuka.

Jaden got off Asuka's bed, picked up her bag with her clothes inside, and waved at the Obelisk Blue girls.

"See ya!" said Jaden.

Asuka, Momoe, and Junko watched as Jaden walked out and closed the door behind her. A few moments of silence had passed before Junko spoke.

"Asuka-san, why did you let her go?" asked Junko.

Momoe nodded.

"Yeah, we could've invited her to dinner…" said Momoe.

Asuka crossed her arms and sighed, giving her friends a small smile afterwards.

"You do know that it'll soon be Saturday," said Asuka. "We can get her then."

Junko and Momoe blinked and smiled as they all thought one thing…sleepover.

"I better go order some clothes for Jaden-kun!" said Momoe.

Junko held up her hand and smiled.

"I call undergarments!" said Junko.

Asuka sweat dropped and sighed.

"_I think I just condemned Jaden…"_ thought Asuka. _"Though, she does clean up nicely…"_

* * *

Meanwhile,

Jaden avoided the stares from some Obelisk Blue guys as she walked out of the dorm's campus. As a result, she wasn't looking where she was going and ended up bumping into someone, a black-haired Obelisk Blue boy. She backed up and looked at who she bumped into as the boy apologized to her. Her eye twitched slightly as she recognized the boy she just bumped into as well as the boy who accompanied him.

They were the jerks who threw water on her and laughed at her inferiority, thinking them, Obelisk Blues, were far more superior then her, an Osiris Red.

"Oh, sorry about that," said the black-haired boy. "Didn't see you there…hey, do I know you?"

Jaden was taken aback with the Obelisk Blue's comment. She just remembered…she was still on Obelisk Blue territory and she was obviously not Obelisk Blue material…in fact, quite the opposite being an Osiris Red, but that's not the point. The last thing she needed was for these guys to start laughing at her current look in an Obelisk Blue female uniform.

"_Aw, crap…think of something, Yuki-kun!"_ thought Jaden. "Uh…no-o?" _"Ra dammit…"_

The dark-brown haired boy looked at Jaden and smiled.

"I don't think so," said the dark-brown haired boy.

Jaden blinked a few times and inwardly sighed…only for her bubble to be burst as the dark-brown haired boy grabbed a hold of her hand.

"I don't think I would forget a pretty face like yours," said the dark-brown haired boy.

Jaden blinked a few times as she stared wide-eyed at the boy. This was the guy who threw water on her. You'd think he'd react differently…though that wasn't what Jaden was worried about. It took her a few moments, but she came to a conclusion…

"Are you hitting on me?" asked Jaden.

The dark-brown haired boy smiled at Jaden.

"Only if you want me to," said the boy.

Jaden narrowed her eyes and pulled her hand away from the boy's in a not so polite or even gentle manner. The dark-brown haired boy looked at her questioningly, wonder if he did something wrong.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to get going," said Jaden.

The dark-brown haired boy stuttered a few times as Jaden started to walk away. He grabbed onto her hand to keep her from going.

"Wait, hold on!" said the dark-brown haired boy. "You still haven't told me your—"

Bad choice of words paired up with grabbing onto her hand again. Jaden was not pleased and decided to show it by turning on her heel and deftly kicking the boy in the stomach. And bonus points! She wore the Obelisk Blue girls' royal blue boots…which had a heel to them.

Needless to say, the dark-brown haired boy wouldn't be bothering her any more at the current moment. Jaden nodded in approval as the boy keeled over onto the ground in pain after letting go of her hand. The dark-brown haired boy's friend ran to his side as Jaden began to walk away, feeling slightly better.

"Are you okay?" the black-haired boy asked his friend.

The dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue groaned and looked up, watching as Jaden walked away. Once she was out of earshot, he couldn't help but say, "I think I'm in love."

* * *

Sometime later,

The sun had just set on the horizon, giving the ocean a beautiful, sparkling look. Staring out at the sun set on a cliff, was none other than Mitsuru Ayanokouji, who was currently crying out his eyes as he yelled out.

"Dueling is the one thing…I hate the most!" yelled Ayanokouji.

His yelling was far from attention-grabbing, as this led Jaden to him, her curiosity having been piqued while she was making her way back to the Osiris Red dorms. Jaden blinked owlishly as she saw the bawling Obelisk Blue. Having heard his declaration (who hasn't with a voice like his?), she decided to see what was up.

Ayanokouji was rubbing his eyes as he sobbed when someone tapped on his shoulder. He sniffed and turned, finding himself face to face with the person he least expected. Jaden Yuki was definitely a sight for sore eyes in her current attire dressed in an Obelisk Blue uniform well suited for her gender. Though not exactly well-fitted for her figure, it still accentuated the feminine charm her usual attire hid.

It took him all his strength to keep himself from blushing when Jaden looked at him with her chocolate brown eyes. She was downright adorable from where he stood, so who's to blame him?

"Are you okay?" asked Jaden.

Ayanokouji was slightly taken aback with Jaden's sudden concern. After today's events, anyone would probably still be angry at him and yet, lo and behold, here was Jaden, comforting him.

After a few moments,

Jaden and Ayanokouji sat by the cliff on the ground as they stared out into the sunset.

"So you hate dueling…" said Jaden. "If you hate dueling so much, then why are you here in the first place?"

Ayanokouji, having calmed down, looked at Jaden, his eyes still red.

"I…don't really know," confessed Ayanokouji. "I guess…it was because of my parents."

Jaden nodded and looked back out at the sunset.

"Why don't you tell them?" asked Jaden.

Ayanokouji sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know…" said Ayanokouji.

Jaden, having been sitting on the edge of the cliff, swung her legs back and forth, alternating with the other she thought. Ayanokouji was slightly concerned with Jaden's daring sitting spot. He was held possibly responsible for her current well-being, having been a Third-Year and Jaden's senpai, so he had a good reason to.

Ayanokouji couldn't help but wonder about Jaden's attire, despite his concern and perplexity of her sudden kindness.

"Oi, Jaden-kun," said Ayanokouji. "What's with the Obelisk Blue uniform? Aren't you in Osiris Red?"

Jaden looked at Ayanokouji and sighed.

"Junko and Momoe dragged me to Obelisk Blue and, well…" said Jaden. "I rather not talk about it…"

Ayanokouji couldn't help but now question as to why Jaden was in Osiris Red. He heard of her dueling potential and skills and now recently, was notified about her gender. She should be in Obelisk Blue.

"Oi, Jaden…why aren't you in Obelisk Blue?" asked Ayanokouji.

One explanation later,

"And that's why I'm in Osiris Red," finished Jaden. "I was just about ready to move into my new room, today."

Ayanokouji blinked and nodded. After hearing Jaden's explanation, he understood everything. He also now found her a rather interesting girl since she never once minded the mistake on her registration form. One would think she would care a bit since her feminine physique was mistaken for a male's. Any of the girls he knew would throw a fit if that ever happened to them, and yet, Jaden was the first girl he now knew who wouldn't.

"Say, Ayanokouji…" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Jaden.

"What is it, Jaden-kun?" asked Ayanokouji.

"What's a 'fiancée'?" asked Jaden.

Ayanokouji stared wide-eyed at Jaden.

"_You gotta be kidding me…and at her age?"_ thought Ayanokouji. "Wha?"

Jaden diverted her eyes back on the sunset.

"I tried asking Asuka earlier, but she just called me an idiot," said Jaden. "Speaking of Asuka…"

Jaden looked back at Ayanokouji.

"You like her, don't you?" asked Jaden.

Ayanokouji blinked and blushed as he nodded. Jaden nodded and crossed her arms.

"Well, I'm sorry to say, but she's not interesting in guys," said Jaden. "Or anyone for the matter. She's not interested into getting in a relationship right now…"

Ayanokouji frowned and looked down.

"Oh…" he said.

Jaden backed up and crawled over to Ayanokouji.

"But…that doesn't mean you should get down!" said Jaden.

Ayanokouji looked up as Jaden looked at him right in the eye as she held up her finger.

"Cheer up!" said Jaden. "There are other girls in this school! You shouldn't completely give up just because one girl wasn't interested!"

Ayanokouji blinked and nodded.

"You're right," said Ayanokouji.

Jaden smiled and continued on, "And you shouldn't give up dueling just because you lost to a girl, like me!"

Ayanokouji narrowed his eyes at Jaden.

"Are you implying something?" he asked.

Jaden looked questioningly at Ayanokouji.

"No…am I?" she asked.

Ayanokouji and Jaden looked at each other before bursting into laughter. After a few moments, they started to calm down. Ayanokouji breathed in deeply and sighed before looking at Jaden.

"You know, Jaden-kun," said Ayanokouji.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Ayanokouji.

"Hm?" she said.

Ayanokouji looked back at the sunset as it began to disappear in the horizon. He grinned as he realized that he was having a great time with his once hated, now friendly rival.

"I had you wrong at first," said Ayanokouji. "But now that I got to know you…you're really a great person. I'm really glad I got to know you…thanks for helping me out."

Jaden nodded and smiled back.

"You're welcome," said Jaden. "And come to think of it…I just thought you were a flirting Tennis Club captain with a snobby personality most Obelisk Blues have against Osiris Reds… But I was wrong…so, friends?"

Ayanokouji stared at Jaden as she held out her hand. He smiled and took it as the sun had completely set.

"Friends," he said.

Later…IN THE TOOLSHED!

A/N Someone get the narrator a watermelon! Once again, for you, **heartlessneko**!

Hayato and Shou had just finished helping Jaden as she carried the rest of her stuff into her room. Jaden's room wasn't that much big, but yet it wasn't that much small. The design and structure was pretty much average as was the size of her bed. Either way, Jaden didn't mind since a room was a room and this one gave her a homey-feeling, much like the room she shared with Hayato and Shou.

Both Osiris Reds were taken aback with their female roommate's attire. Surprisingly, Hayato gave no smart aleck remarks as he, like Shou, was too shocked with how different Jaden looked like in an Obelisk Blue female uniform. For one, she finally looked her gender, and for another, she cleaned up nicely.

However, Jaden's gender-suited attire was something that didn't last very long as she changed out of it and into her pajamas (sweatshirt and pants). She got into her bed and pulled up the red covers as she tried to go to sleep, Hayato and Shou having left a while ago to go get ready for bed.

And so here she had it…Today was where she finally had a room to herself. For one, it was quiet and rather peaceful. Jaden turned in bed and buried her face into her pillow as she tried to get comfortable. As she tried to go to sleep, her thoughts focused on the positive things having a room to herself, had.

No Hayato's snoring…no Pharaoh suddenly jumping you in the middle of the night for some apparent reason at the sight of your rising and dropping sleeping form…no small room…Just one quiet, and peaceful room…all to herself…alone…

Jaden sat up in bed and grumbled.

"_Screw it!"_ thought Jaden. _"Maybe one more night wouldn't hurt…"_

A few moments later, Hayato found himself opening the door after being woken up by someone's knocking on the door. He rubbed his eye as he opened the door, staring questioningly as he saw Jaden standing in the entrance in nothing but her pajamas. Shou peeked out from his bunk bed and blinked as Jaden walked into the room and made herself comfortable in her bunk bed.

Shou and Hayato stared at Jaden as she soon fell fast asleep. Both Osiris Reds looked at each other and shrugged. It was just like that of Jaden to do and they weren't complaining. She was the reason aside from the alarm clock, who kept them from being late to class. However, aside from that, both Hayato and Shou were somewhat glad that Jaden was still rooming with them since she made them feel safe, like they did her.

And so ends another day at Duel Academy…

* * *

A/N End of chapter and finally done! Okay, a little heads up! Does anyone want a girls' day out between Jaden, Asuka, Momoe, and Junko along with the sleepover? Reason why I'm asking is because I want to know if you want me to focus a chapter on that. If not, I could just mention it in a later chapter. Tell me what you think and remember! NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is what keeps this fic from falling apart and reviews are like chocolate to me…damn, wrong simile…now I want chocolate and it's almost 3 fricken' AM!

Oh, and the moment between Jaden and the guy who threw water on her…I dunno. It just came to me and if you guys want him to appear in later chapters, tell me so I can give him a name or you give me a name! As for Jaden and Ayanokouji…cut the guy some slack! I know he's a flirty guy, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him and…yeah…hope you enjoyed and if anyone was OOC, remember! Comic relief and it's about almost 3 AM! I just finished typing this chapter a while ago! BTW, this chapter is also there to tell you that aside from shounen-ai, there might also be shoujo-ai. Get used to it, dammit!

(1) Both an allusion to DarkSideIncorporated's _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_ Abridged series and the fact that the coccyx is really the tailbone. And according to what I just learned, the majority of coccyx injuries occur in women because the female pelvis is broader, and the coccyx is more exposed. There, you learn something new every day and know why it hurts a lot more if you're a girl.

Sheesh, that so explains a lot when I fell down once…

(2) It was hard for me to not go into bad pun mode and say, "What the deuce?"

(3) Sorry, but I just had to do that! I just finished watching episode seven of _Ouran High School Host Club_ when this idea suddenly popped up and…well, there it is. Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin for the win! In my eyes, they're like the anime versions of Fred and George Weasley and those two are epic!

Well, there you have it! Three chapters updated at almost 3 AM…wait patiently for the next cuz I need to know first on your reaction to the girls' day out thing as well as the Obelisk Blue guy and his friend in a review! Remember! Every vote counts! Unless you guys don't, then I'm going with the default which is listening to my three favorite reviewers!


	13. Turn 13

Chapter Thirteen

When They Met the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night...

~the next day~

It was just another day at Duel Academy…Classes had just ended, Chronos gave out a Duel Theory report, Jaden _did_ feel the fall she took yesterday to the tailbone this morning, and there was whispering in the halls about last night…wait, what?

A group of three Obelisk Blue students were talking about with each other about last night's events. Whatever had happened seemed to have been not just that night, but others as well and it involved something about their rare cards.

Their whisperings echoed down the hall and caught the attention of a certain Osiris Red trio as they walked down the hall. The three stopped, having heard the Obelisk Blues' whispering.

"What's up?" asked Jaden.

The three Obelisk Blue students heard Jaden and turned their heads, spotting the Osiris Red. They gasped and walked away, annoying Jaden slightly.

"I don't really like it when they act all sneaky…" said Jaden.

Shou glared at the Obelisk Blue students as they walked away.

"Those Obelisk Blues are probably planning something again," said Shou.

Hayato looked at Shou and shook his head.

"No, it's probably because of those rumors, isn't it?" replied Hayato.

Both Jaden and Shou looked questioningly at the koala-resembling boy.

"Rumors?" questioned Jaden.

"It sounds like there's a duelist who's dueling against those Obelisk Blues," explained Hayato. "On top of that, he duels with the forbidden Ante Rule."

Shou blinked and held up his finger while Jaden just stared blankly at her roommates.

"Ah!" said Shou. "I heard those rumors, too!"

"I don't really know the details, but it sounds like that duelist is a giant who wears their clothes," Hayato continued on.

Shou nodded his head and said, "Uh-huh, uh-huh…"

"That guy only shows up at night," said Hayato. "That's why he's called the 'Giant Duelist of the Dark Night.'"

Jaden listened closely to Hayato's explanation on the rumor and arched her eyebrow in question.

At that current moment walking down the hall, was Professor Chronos. His thoughts were focused on the rumors going around. The fact that it involved his Obelisk Blue students had the blonde-haired professor concerned.

"This is bad-_no ne_…" said Professor Chronos. "To think that the Obelisk Blue students that I supervise are losing to this unknown duelist…"

Professor Chronos was reacting to this problem rather dramatic…somewhat.

"And by violating school regulations with the Ante Rule, no less!" he added. "If word gets out, I'll be blamed for not supervising them-_no ne_!"

Professor Chronos scowled and tightened his fists, pausing when he spotted a certain Osiris Red trio standing a few feet away from him in the hallway. An idea popped up in mind and the blonde-haired professor grinned widely.

"That's it-_na no ne_!" said Professor Chronos. "I'll simply push this onto them-_no ne_!"

Professor Chronos approached the Osiris Red trio, going unnoticed until he spoke.

"It's you Dropout Boys!" said Professor Chronos.

Shou, Jaden, and Hayato turned to see the blonde-haired professor walking towards them…smiling? This didn't look good…

"Aah!" exclaimed Shou. "Professor Chronos!"

Shou hid behind Jaden and peeked out as Professor Chronos stood in front of them. The blonde-haired professor stared at Shou, Hayato, and Jaden with a rather eerie grin.

"I am giving you all a special assignment-_no ne_," said Professor Chronos.

Jaden blinked questioningly at this.

"A special assignment?" she repeated.

Jaden looked at Hayato, who gave her a perplexed look. Professor Chronos continued on, still wearing the rather eerie grin.

"If you can fulfill this task well, you will be exempt from doing the report on duel theory!" explained the blonde-haired professor.

At the mere mention of being excused from a report, Jaden immediately perked up and grinned widely.

"Really?" she asked eagerly.

Shou blinked and looked at Jaden, perplexed.

"Eh?" said Shou. "This is dangerous, Aniki!"

Jaden blinked and looked at Shou questioningly. Professor Chronos's grin grew wider as he tried to catch Jaden's attention.

"Really-_na no ne_," he said. "Just look into my eyes-_no ne_. This should—"

Professor Chronos didn't need to say anymore as Jaden tightened her fists and stepped up.

"Awright!" said Jaden. "I'll do it!"

Hayato and Shou looked perplexed at Jaden before sighing in dismay. Shou placed his hands on his head while Hayato looked down. Once Jaden had her mind made up, there was no going back. She was too stubborn to do that, of course.

"Jaden…" said Hayato.

Jaden looked eagerly at Professor Chronos.

"So, what's the assignment about?" she asked.

Despite the fact that Jaden always made decisions for them, both Shou and Hayato couldn't help but think '_cute~!_' when they saw the look on her face. The same went for Professor Chronos, but he immediately discarded that thought since he _happened_ to have loathed the gender-mistaken girl and all Osiris Reds. The blonde-haired professor knelt down to Jaden's level, having been a good amount of height taller than the Osiris Red.

"At the moment, in this Academy, there is a fellow who challenges others to a duel with the Ante Rule-_no ne_," explained Professor Chronos. "You are to capture that person and expose their identity-_no ne_."

"You mean the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night?" asked Jaden.

Professor Chronos paled and backed away from the gender-mistaken girl. Jaden blinked as she saw the blonde-haired professor's nervous expression.

"A-Anyway, I've something to do," Professor Chronos quickly said before walking away. "_Canzone_…"

Shou, Hayato, and Jaden watched as the blonde-haired professor walked away, grinning widely and laughing somewhat awkwardly as he looked back at the trio over his shoulder.

"_Thanks to this, it would benefit them to find that mysterious duelist,"_ thought Professor Chronos. _"Even if he loses and has his rare card taken, it'll work out well-_na no ne_! Sorassone…" _(1)

Once Professor Chronos had walked out of view, Jaden pumped her fist into the air.

"All right!" she exclaimed. "Let's go find that mysterious duelist!"

Hayato had his arms crossed while Shou stared at his Aniki concerned and perplexed.

"But, Aniki…taking him up on this just has to be bad!" warned Shou.

Jaden blinked and looked at the blue-haired boy questioningly.

"Huh?" said Jaden.

Hayato nodded.

"It _is_ Professor Chronos, you know…" remarked Hayato.

Jaden turned to Hayato wearing a clueless smile.

"What're you talking about?" Jaden asked, obviously not getting the memo both Hayato and Shou tried to tell her. "We'll be excused from doing that report, _and_ I'll be able to duel this strong guy!"

Shou frowned and slumped.

"Geez…c'mon, Aniki…" whined Shou.

Hayato sighed and turned to Jaden as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head.

"It can't be helped," Hayato sighed. "It's Jaden, after all…"

Jaden looked up at Hayato as she had her hands behind her head. It was no surprise for the koala-resembling boy and Shou to see their female roommate wearing a blank and clueless expression on her face…however, it was quite depressing. The look on Jaden's face only showed how much naïve their roommate really was.

Both Hayato and Shou sighed in dismay. As said by the older Osiris Red, it can't be helped so they might as well see what the gender-mistaken girl had in mind.

"What's the plan, Aniki?" asked Shou.

Jaden diverted her chocolate brown eyes on Shou.

"Hm?" she said.

Shou closed his eyes and held up his fist.

"To find that mysterious duelist!" he added. "How're you planning to find him?"

Jaden held up her fists and closed her eyes as she smiled.

"Just leave it to me!" said Jaden. "I'll think of something!"

It took all of Hayato's and Shou's willpower to _not_ fall back anime-style after hearing Jaden's resolution.

Sometime later in the duel arena,

An Obelisk Blue student with brown hair and brown eyes was dueling against a small-heighted Ra Yellow with dark-green hair. Both were at a 100-point difference in life points, the Ra Yellow being in the lead with 300. However, something was troubling the Ra Yellow as he looked nervously at his hand.

The Osiris Red trio had just entered the arena and were about to sit down in their seats when Shou noticed the current duel going on.

"Hey, that Ra Yellow's winning!" said Shou.

Hayato focused his gaze on the duel and smiled.

"Looks like a good game," Hayato commented.

Jaden turned her attention to the duel and watched closely. It was currently the Ra Yellow's turn and for some reason, the Obelisk Blue he was dueling was annoyed with how long he was taking.

"What's wrong?" yelled the Obelisk Blue. "It's your turn, you know!"

The Ra Yellow's breath hitched at the Obelisk Blue's outburst.

"Right!" he replied back nervously, looking down at his hand again. "Uh…"

Jaden looked closely at the Ra Yellow's hand from where she sat and spotted a certain card in his hand that piqued her interest.

"That's Earthquake!" said Jaden. "He's got some cool cards!"

Jaden smiled as she guessed the outcome of the duel.

"That should give him the win," she assumed.

Meanwhile down at the platform where the dueling duelist were,

The small-heighted Ra Yellow looked at his opponent's field, taking in the face-down card and 1200-ATK monster as he thought.

"_I could just attack and win, but I'm also worried about my opponent's reversed card…"_ the Ra Yellow thought as he diverted his eyes at his hand. _"I think I should definitely use Earthquake now to switch his Troop Commander into defense mode and then attack…But…"_

The Obelisk Blue boy was getting annoyed with waiting for the Ra Yellow to make his move.

"Hurry and play something!" snapped the Obelisk Blue student. "I've been going easy on you, you know!"

The Ra Yellow trembled as the group of three Obelisk Blue students by the one he was dueling against started harassing him.

"Whatever you do, Ra Yellow, it's useless!" said one of the Obelisk Blues.

"There's no way you'll win, anyway," said another of the Obelisk Blues. "Hurry up!"

The Ra Yellow nervously looked at his hand as he hesitated to pick out a card in his hand.

"Um…" he said, trying to make his decision.

The Obelisk Blue was not amused and held up his fist as he scowled.

"Are you attacking or not?" snapped the Obelisk Blue. "Hurry it up!"

The Ra Yellow yelped and closed his eyes as he began to panic.

"R-Right!" stuttered the Ra Yellow. "I attack with my Mad Sword Beast!"

The Ra Yellow opened his eyes reluctantly. Jaden blinked and looked perplexed at the Ra Yellow.

"Wha…?" said Jaden.

The Obelisk Blue turned over his face-down card.

"Reversed card, open!" he said. "Reinforcements! With this card's effect, the ATK of one of my monsters goes up by 500 points! Go, Troop Commander!"

Troop Commander, a soldier-like monster, charged towards the small-heighted Ra Yellow's monster (ATK 1400) as a fiery aura emanated from it.

ATK: Previously, 1200

Now…1700!

Troop Commander slashed down on Mad Sword Beast and destroyed the beast-like monster. The Ra Yellow grunted as the destruction of his monster brought a small explosion that took a toll on his remaining life points, leaving him with 0 LP. He fell onto his knees despondently as Jaden looked at him, frowning.

"He had that duel won, too…" said Jaden.

"It would've been better for Kohara to see that, as well," said someone.

Jaden froze and slowly turned her head, sighing in relief when she saw that it was just her Ra Yellow rival, Daichi. Shou and Hayato looked at Daichi, who had his arms crossed as he looked out at the duel arena at the small-heighted Ra Yellow, Kohara.

"Misawa-kun!" said Shou.

Daichi continued on with his talk on Kohara, "He has skills, but when he's really dueling, he gets nervous and ends up losing."

Jaden, Hayato, and Shou focused their gaze on the small-heighted Ra Yellow as he was on the ground on all fours. The Obelisk Blue, Shuichi (2), he was dueling looked at him with a wide smirk.

"Do you think that a guy like you will be an Obelisk Blue, no matter how hard you try?" Shuichi asked in a taunting manner.

This provoked Kohara as he gritted his teeth, earning laughter from Shuichi and his friends.

"You should just hurry and give it up!" one of the Obelisk Blues remarked.

Kohara got up from the ground and walked away, paying no attention whatsoever at the laughing Obelisk Blues. Jaden watched the small-heighted Ra Yellow walk away from the platform and sensed something from within him. Winged Kuriboh popped up by Jaden's side and notified his appearance with a 'kuri kuri'.

"_You felt that, too?"_ thought Jaden.

Jaden snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Daichi as he talked to her and her roommates.

"By the way, did you guys come to watch?" asked Daichi.

Shou looked at Daichi and replied, "We came to find some bad guy."

"Bad guy?" Daichi said questioningly.

Shou held up his finger as he explained.

"We're looking for the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night," said Shou.

Daichi looked at Shou and nodded in comprehension.

"Ah, I've heard those rumors," said Daichi.

Jaden narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Why is it that everyone but me has already heard of the rumors…?" Jaden muttered, diverting her eyes back on Kohara.

Jaden blinked as she spotted Kohara walking over to a taller and bigger Ra Yellow student. Hayato noticed the big Ra Yellow student and stared at him in awe.

"Whoa, he's a big guy!" said Hayato.

Shou looked at the Ra Yellow and wowed.

"Really is," Shou agreed. "Oi, Aniki, you don't think he's—"

Daichi blinked and smiled.

"Are you suspecting him?" he asked. "No, no."

Shou looked at Daichi questioningly.

"But a big guy like that's hard to find," protested Shou.

Daichi laughed before his expression turned serious.

"That's Ohara-kun," said Daichi. "He's no duelist; he's trying to be a game designer."

"I see…but…" said Shou.

Jaden stared at Ohara and Kohara as they walked out of the duel arena. Winged Kuriboh appeared on his partner's shoulder.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden diverted her eyes on the winged furball, having heard his comment.

"_Yeah, I don't feel anything from him," _thought Jaden. _"Besides…"_

Jaden closed her eyes as Winged Kuriboh disappeared and poked Hayato in the stomach.

"Koala-man's a big guy," Jaden said perceptively.

Hayato took no offense from Jaden's remark, but he did gently swat away her hand and decided to poke fun at her in a brotherly-like manner.

"Shut it, flat-chest," said Hayato.

Jaden blinked a few times and looked at her chest. She patted it a few times and paid no attention to her friends' blushing faces as she did so. After coming to a conclusion with a slightly twitching eye, Jaden looked at Hayato.

"That's new and I'm gonna let it slide this time…" said Jaden. _"At least it's better than 'no assets'…is it?"_

Daichi rubbed the back of his head and cleared his throat to catch Jaden's attention. He decided to speak for himself and his fellow male acquaintances to avoid having Jaden do that…ever again.

"Ichiban-kun, could you not do that again?" asked Daichi. "Show some modesty…"

Jaden arched her eyebrow at Daichi before getting out of her seat and running down the stairs. Shou stood up and ran after the gender-mistaken girl, perplexed with her sudden actions.

"Huh?" he said. "Aniki!"

Daichi watched as Shou ran after Jaden before Hayato decided to follow them. The Ra Yellow sighed and rubbed the back of his head as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"_I swear, she's going to be the death of me…"_ thought Daichi. _"And that's if her self-defense doesn't finish the job…"_

* * *

A few moments later in the hallway…

Ohara and Kohara walked down the hall, side by side, before being stopped by the group of Obelisk Blues Kohara had encountered in the duel arena. Shuichi, the Obelisk Blue who had just defeated him, scowled at Kohara and Ohara.

"Look, there's some Ra Yellows here walking in the middle of the hallway!" Shuichi declared.

Ohara looked nervously at the Obelisk Blues, to which Shuichi narrowed his eyes at him for.

"Times like these, you need to hand over the hallway!" Shuichi remarked before he held up his fist. "Or is that a math problem for you?"

Ohara just stared at them before looking down at Kohara as the small-heighted Ra Yellow tugged on his sleeve.

"Ohara…" Kohara said as he closed his eyes and stepped to the side.

Ohara nodded and complied with what Kohara had directed him to do by stepping out of the Obelisk Blues' way. Pleased and obviously satisfied with the Ra Yellow duo's cooperation, Shuichi smirked at them.

"Right, well, that'll do," he said before giving a rude and rather arrogant remark, "Now you know where you stand!"

Shuichi and his fellow Obelisk Blue friends all laughed as they walked past Ohara and Kohara. Ohara frowned as he watched the Obelisk Blues walk away as Kohara gritted his teeth.

A sudden 'THUD!' caught the small-heighted Ra Yellow and his friend's attention as they turned to see what had happened. Right on the floor face first, was the guy who had just insulted them. Standing around Shuichi aside from his friends and looking rather out of place, was an Osiris Red student with dual-brown hair, looking rather satisfied.

Jaden Yuki was obviously pleased with her actions that lead Shuichi to where he was now on the floor. Having heard his smug and smart-aleck remarks aimed at the Ra Yellows, Jaden decided to give the Obelisk Blue a piece of her mind. Which is what she exactly did…by placing her foot in front of the guy as he walked by, tripping him in the process.

Shou and Hayato had turned a corner when they had seen what just happened. Shou was about to yell out for Jaden when Hayato covered his mouth and pulled him behind the corner with himself. The blue-haired Osiris Red looked questioningly at the koala-resembling boy before he was motioned to stay quiet, to which he nodded reluctantly at.

Hayato let go of Shou and peered over from behind the corner to see what was currently going on.

"_Just what are you planning, Jaden?"_ thought Hayato.

Jaden tried not to laugh as she stared at Shuichi, who was still on the floor, with a mock apologetic face…no really, she did. Especially when she said…

"Oh, my bad!" said Jaden. "Didn't see you there! You know…you should really watch where you're going."

Shuichi lifted himself up and turned his head to Jaden as she stared at him with a rather satisfied look in her eyes. He was not amused…especially since this was an Osiris Red who had _obviously_ tripped him. He wasn't fooled with the fake apologetic tone in Jaden's voice. Neither were his friends and they decided to prove that by showing Jaden exactly who was more superior.

Jaden found herself slammed against the wall by Shuichi's black-haired friend, Tadao. For some reason, this action did not surprise the Osiris Red whatsoever and hell! She had expected it to happen! This was the very exact reason her father made her take self-defense…which is why Hayato had decided to leave this problem to Jaden and keep Shou from interrupting the current scuffle.

"How dare an Osiris Red like you trip someone like Shuichi-san!" snapped Tadao.

Jaden stared back at Tadao, unfazed whatsoever at being pinned against the wall. This action annoyed Shigeru (light-brown haired Obelisk Blue) and Jin (maroon-haired Obelisk Blue) as they helped up Shuichi from the floor. Shuichi glared at Jaden as the next words that came out of the Osiris Red's mouth made something within him snap.

"It's not my fault the guy's a klutz," remarked Jaden. "Don't go blaming it all on me just because he fails to pay attention—GAH!"

Jaden's eyes widened as Shuichi's fist came into contact with her stomach in the form of a rather forceful punch. Tears welded up in her eyes as the wind was knocked out of her while Tadao let go of her. Jaden fell onto the floor on her knees, holding her stomach as she coughed from trying to regain her breath.

It took all of Hayato's strength to keep Shou and _himself_ from running towards Jaden's side. If Jaden can throw a guy like Hayato off the top bunk bed, then she could handle a few Obelisk Blues. Besides, if all else fails, they could always get Daitokuji and both Shou and Hayato knew that he would _definitely_ not go easy on the Obelisk Blues.

Shuichi grinned smugly at the Osiris Red that stood in front of him on his (he doesn't know~!) knees. Jaden was not amused…though very much in pain, but definitely not amused.

"_So he thinks he's superior over me, huh?"_ thought Jaden. _"Hmph, bring it…"_

Jaden coughed again and looked up at Shuichi with a defiant gleam in her eyes. This just annoyed the Obelisk Blue even more.

"You damn Osiris Reds…" Shuichi said through gritted teeth. "You should know your place!"

Jaden scowled at Shuichi.

"Screw you!" snapped Jaden.

And that just about crossed the line for an Obelisk Blue like Shuichi. Shuichi reached down and picked Jaden up by the shirt. He stared right into the Osiris Red's eyes as he tried to make himself look intimidating.

"You better take that back!" Shuichi said darkly. "Maybe if you do, I'll let it slide…"

Jaden spit on Shuichi's face and smirked at the shocked look he gave her. Jin, Shigeru, and Tadao all gasped, to which Jaden just rolled her eyes. Hayato face-palmed while Shou frowned…this wasn't going to be good.

This was exactly what Ohara and Kohara thought as well. They had seen everything from the moment Shuichi had been on the floor up till where Jaden had spat on his face. For an Osiris Red, Jaden was by far either the most courageous…or the stupidest one seeing as she had just provoked the Obelisk Blue's rage up to its peak. The next thing they knew, Ohara and Kohara were watching agape as Shuichi took out his anger on the Osiris Red.

Hayato and Shou stared wide-eyed as Shuichi decked Jaden and kneed her right in the stomach before letting her fall onto the floor. He glared daggers at the Osiris Red before kicking her to the side as she coughed just for a good measure. Jaden coughed and looked up at Shuichi, scowling at the smug grin he wore.

"I think that'll teach you to know your place, Dropout Boy!" Shuichi said in a self-satisfied tone.

Shou distanced himself slightly away from Hayato as he began to shake with rage. Screw self-defense! Hayato was about ready to snap had it not been for Jaden's next actions.

Jaden blinked and grinned as she started laughing, earning her strange stares from the Obelisk Blue students, her friends, and of course, the Ra Yellows. She pushed herself off the ground and wiped her mouth on her sleeve as she glared at Shuichi and his friends.

"You have no idea who the hell you're dealing with, don't you?" asked Jaden.

Shuichi scowled at Jaden.

"I thought I told you to learn your place!" Shuichi exclaimed as he tightened his fist and reached for Jaden with his free hand.

Jaden blinked and grabbed Shuichi by the wrist, startling the Obelisk Blue.

"I don't think so," said Jaden. "Guess you'll have to learn the hard way not to mess with _this_ Osiris Red."

Shuichi gritted his teeth as he tried to pull his hand away from Jaden. Jaden reacted to this by pulling Shuichi closer and punching him right in the face, coming in contact with the Obelisk Blue's nose. Jin, Shigeru, and Tadao all flinched at the bone-cracking sound that came from the impact against Jaden's fist with Shuichi's nose.

"GAH!" yelled Shuichi.

Shuichi covered his nose with his free hand as Jaden showed no sign of letting go of his wrist whatsoever. Blood spurted out of his nose as he glared at the Osiris Red, who wore a serious expression.

"I warned ya," said Jaden.

Shuichi growled and lunged at Jaden.

"Why, you little—!" said Shuichi.

Jaden foresaw this little action and decided to retaliate before Shuichi had a chance by punching the boy in the stomach, kneeing him below the belt, and just to show that she was being serious, she judo threw the Obelisk Blue right onto the ground in front of his friends. Jin and Shigeru immediately went to Shuichi's side as they saw him keel over onto the floor. Tadao glared daggers at Jaden and yelled as he charged at her.

However, Tadao's reckless action just made it an even easier job for Jaden as she dodged and threw an uppercut, landing a nice hit on boy's chin. Tadao yelped and held his chin, leaving him defenseless as Jaden landed another hit with her fist. Only this time, it was right in the stomach and even more forceful than ever as this one sent the Obelisk Blue slamming into the wall.

THUD!

Tadao gasped out as he slid onto the floor, clutching his stomach as he tried to regain his breath. Jaden crossed her arms and looked over at the remaining two, unharmed Obelisk Blues.

"If you leave now, I won't hurt you," said Jaden. "Ready to take up that offer?"

Shigeru and Jin looked at Shuichi, whom was obviously not happy.

"What are you waiting for?" snapped Shuichi. "Get him!"

Shigeru and Jin nodded before running towards Jaden. Jaden sighed and shook her head.

"I gave you an offer and yet you refuse it," said Jaden. "You're gonna regret this."

And they did as both Obelisk Blues fled down the hall, sporting a couple of black eyes and a bloody nose. Shuichi scowled at Jaden and turned before following after Shigeru and Jin. Tadao trailed after his friends, not wanting to be left behind.

Jaden watched as the Obelisk Blues she just dealt with fled. She snorted and nodded in approval.

"Next time, pick on someone your own size!" shouted Jaden. "Bunch of wimps…"

Ohara and Kohara were still slightly shocked with the Osiris Red's actions. Why Jaden had done that, they didn't know. For now, going back to the Ra Yellow dorm seemed like a very good idea to them.

Jaden inhaled deeply and exhaled as she rubbed her stomach, wincing slightly at the pain. Compared to what she had to deal with in the past, this was nothing...then again, she was smaller back then so the pain would probably differ. Either way, for what it was worth, she just hoped that it taught those Obelisk Blues a lesson.

"Aniki!" someone called out.

Jaden blinked and turned her head as she saw Shou run towards her. She smiled and waved at him before he latched onto her waist.

"Aniki!" said Shou. "Don't ever do that again!"

Jaden laughed and ruffled Shou's hair as he embraced her.

"Sorry, Shou, but I won't make any promises!" said Jaden.

Shou tightened his hold on Jaden.

"Aniki!" whined Shou.

Jaden blinked and said, "Geez, Shou, I didn't think you'd get all worked up at me getting beat up!"

Shou looked up at Jaden perplexed.

"Worked up?" exclaimed Shou. "I was worried about you! Do you have any idea how much you scared me and Hayato-kun when you spit on that Obelisk Blue's face?"

Jaden rubbed the back of her head awkwardly as she stared at Shou's glaring face. She blinked and noticed a certain koala-resembling boy was missing.

"Oi, speaking of Hayato, where is he?" asked Jaden.

Shou blinked and looked back to see Hayato walking towards them wearing a satisfied grin. Jaden tilted her head to the side, wondering what could have made the koala-resembling boy so happy after what just happened. However, there were far more important things for Jaden to think about as she remembered why she had taken the beatings from the Obelisk Blues.

Jaden turned to see Ohara and Kohara walking away. She jolted slightly and ran after them, provoking a few surprised exclamations from Shou and Hayato.

"Aniki!" said Shou.

"Jaden!" said Hayato.

So much for trying to keep Jaden in for a small lecture…might as well leave that to Daitokuji once they get to the Osiris Red dorms. For now, Shou and Hayato trailed after Jaden as she called out to the Ra Yellows.

"Oi!" shouted Jaden.

Ohara and Kohara stopped in their tracks and turned to see Jaden running towards them.

"Wait a sec!" said Jaden.

Kohara stepped closer to Ohara as Jaden slowed down and stopped in front of them. Shou and Hayato caught up with Jaden and watched as she looked up at Ohara.

"Looks like you're that mysterious duelist," said Jaden.

Ohara was taken aback with Jaden's comment and stared at the Osiris Red agape. Kohara scowled at Jaden.

"What are you…?" asked Kohara.

Jaden placed her hands on her hips and looked at both Ra Yellows.

"Don't make fools out of those Obelisk Blues; just duel me!" said Jaden.

Hayato and Shou stared at Jaden, shocked.

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

"Jaden!" Hayato said at the same time.

Jaden jabbed her thumb at herself as she looked at Ohara and Kohara. Kohara glared at Jaden.

"I don't really get what you mean, but just stop talking so weirdly!" said Kohara.

Kohara pulled on Ohara's sleeve and started to walk away.

"Let's go, Ohara," said Kohara.

"Right," said Ohara.

Jaden watched as both Ra Yellows walked away and blinked before crossing her arms. She smiled, earning stares from her roommates.

"Aniki…" said Shou.

"Misawa even said it wasn't him, you know," said Hayato.

Shou looked at Hayato.

"That's right!" said Shou. "Since he doesn't do much, I don't really think he's the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night!"

Jaden just stared out as Winged Kuriboh appeared on her shoulder again.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

"_Yeah, I know,"_ thought Jaden.

"Oi, Jaden, Shou," said Hayato.

Both Jaden and Shou turned to the koala-resembling boy.

"What is it, Hayato-kun?" asked Shou.

Hayato laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Could I use one of your PDAs?" asked Hayato.

Shou arched his eyebrow at Hayato as Jaden lifted her shirt up slightly to look for the pouch on her hip. After finding it, she took her PDA out of its pouch and handed it to Hayato.

"Here…uh, why do you need it?" asked Jaden.

Hayato turned on Jaden's PDA as he replied, "Just sending some mail…and done!"

Shou looked questioningly at Hayato as he handed Jaden back her PDA.

"Hayato-kun, where were you when I was talking with Jaden?" asked Shou.

Hayato looked at Jaden and patted her head for once, earning a perplexed stare from her.

"Just doing Jaden a small favor," said Hayato.

Jaden blinked owlishly and placed her PDA back into its pouch.

* * *

Sometime later,

Emi Ayukawa walked down the hall, rubbing the back of her head as she read the message some random student had sent her. She stopped and sighed as she saw the reason for the sent message…right on the floor groaning in pain with bruises and bloody noses were a group of four Obelisk Blue students.

Apparently, right after Shou had run up to Jaden's side, Hayato was left with the fleeing Obelisk Blues that had just been beaten up by his female roommate. Having been vengeful with the way Shuichi had been with Jaden as well as his friends attempt to hurt her, Hayato decided to take out his anger on them, just to see how they felt when someone took it out on them.

Needless to say, Shuichi's nose was _definitely_ confirmed as broken before Hayato had dealt with him, but that didn't exactly stop the koala-resembling boy from beating him and his friends up. Shuichi held his nose as he looked at Ayukawa, whom noticed the Obelisk Blue was sporting two black-eyes.

At first, Ayukawa was concerned…that was until another message was sent to her. After she read it, she looked at the Obelisk Blue boys and shook her head.

"Get up and follow me," said Ayukawa. "And if it hurts, just walk it off!"

All she got in response were a couple of annoyed groans before the Obelisk Blues cooperated and got off the floor. Ayukawa looked at the boys and shook her head again.

"_Served them right for beating up a girl…"_ thought Ayukawa. _"Jaden-kun is really lucky to have a friend like Hayato-kun…huh?"_

Ayukawa read another message that was sent to her and paled slightly. She looked at the boys with a question in mind.

"Did a small Osiris Red with brown-hair do this to you?" asked Ayukawa.

A few embarrassed and pained groans here…

"And did you get beat up again by a different boy afterwards?" asked Ayukawa.

Silence…

Ayukawa laughed nervously as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head. She sighed and crossed her arms as she opened the door to the infirmary.

"_I seriously need to have a talk with Jaden-kun one of these days…"_ thought Ayukawa. _"Might as well call Daitokuji to tell him…"_

And that's how Jaden (and her roommates) ended up having to sit through an hour-long lecture from Daitokuji as said professor helped her bandage up a few injuries and the cuts she received on the way back to the Osiris Red dorms. How she received the cuts…well…

* * *

~flashback~

"_Give them back, Aniki!" whined Shou._

_Hayato sighed as his roommates were at it again with Jaden playing keep-away with Shou's glasses as they walked down the forest. It was times like these, Jaden reminded Hayato of a little kid with her current playfulness._

"_Come and get 'em, Shou!" said Jaden. "Haha!"_

_Hayato sweat dropped._

"Scratch that…Jaden is that little kid!"_ thought Hayato. _

_Jaden, not watching as she was going, was teasing Shou with his glasses and ended up tripping on a tree root. And in that process, Jaden ended up falling into a thorn bush and scaring the crap out of Shou and Hayato as she cried out in pain._

"_Not again!" said Hayato. _"Damn, she _is_ a little kid!"

_It was bad enough Hayato had to risk it and beat up the Obelisk Blues that had just been dealt with by Jaden after said Osiris Red took a small beating, but having her fall into a bush…a thorn bush to be precise! This just made everything just more stressful for the koala-resembling boy and partially for Shou._

_Shou picked up his glasses from the ground that Jaden had dropped after tripping on the tree root and placed them on. Hayato tried to pick up Jaden as gently as he could out of the bush before propping her standing up. Jaden winced and let out a pained hiss as she took out one of the thorns lodged into her hands. Shou and Hayato helped her out by taking out the thorns on her back._

_By the time the Osiris Red trio had made it back to the dorms (toolshed!), Daitokuji was waiting and when he saw Jaden covered in cuts and scratches, he sighed and went into his room before coming out with a first-aid kit._

~end of flashback~

* * *

Shou and Hayato tried to look away as Daitokuji continued held out Jaden's arm and rubbed an antiseptic over the cuts on her arm. Jaden sat on a chair in Daitokuji's room wearing nothing but a pair of red shorts and a black tank-top…the exact reason her roommates were looking away. This was the first time they've seen their female roommate in rather casual clothes like this, so who's to blame them if they find it a bit embarrassing to see her like that in them? Exactly!

Pharaoh rubbed against Shou as he meowed loudly. Shou blinked and bent down to pet the tabby cat as Daitokuji wrapped Jaden's arm with a white bandage.

Sometime later in the Osiris Red trio's room,

"Put on a damn shirt!" snapped Hayato.

Jaden, on the floor with Shou, blinked as she rubbed the back of her head idly while looking up at Hayato, who was in his bed on the top bunk. Shou placed a card down and ended his turn before looking at Jaden to notify her that it was her turn. Jaden looked at her hand and reached for her deck as she replied to Hayato's remark.

"Why should I?" asked Jaden.

Hayato growled and pulled the covers over himself. How Shou could deal with Jaden in nothing but a tank-top and shorts, he will never know, but all he knew is that he didn't feel comfortable around Jaden despite the girl being bandaged around the top area of her body save for her head (Ayukawa had paid a small visit after Daitokuji found out about the scratches on Jaden's back and called the nurse).

"Just because you have no assets, doesn't mean you can be around us in…in…_that_!" remarked Hayato. "Don't flaunt around what you have!"

Jaden scowled at Hayato and ignored him as she looked at her hand.

"I summon Elemental Hero Knospe in attack mode!" Jaden said as she laid down the card. "I activate Knospe's special effect! Since I have another Elemental Hero on my field, I can use Knospe to land a direct attack on you!"

Shou looked nervously at Jaden as she used the select group of cards from her deck she only used in casual duels like this. Reason to it was that they gave her more of an advantage had she used her full deck altogether.

Hayato sighed and decided to make the best of his time before he and his roommates went searching for the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night.

A few more moments had passed by when Shou had lost to Jaden's Elemental Hero Blume after activating Blume Sprout and sacrificing Knospe. After that, Shou sweat dropped as he saw Jaden go back to her usual game antics, only this time…she was actually focusing on beating Champion Cynthia instead of Red the Ultimate Trainer.

Some hours had passed and day turned to night when Jaden stood up from the ground in glee as she exclaimed her victor over Cynthia. This in turn woke up Hayato, who looked down at Jaden before reaching down and pulling the covers off a sleeping Shou, who was in his middle bunk bed. Shou woke up and glared at Hayato as the koala-resembling boy dropped his blanket over Jaden.

"I told you to put on a shirt!" said Hayato.

Jaden fumbled around under the blanket before holding up her finger and in a very childish way, she yelled out, "Never!"

Hayato and Shou sweat dropped and shook their heads as Jaden took off the blanket and ran over towards the door to put her shoes on.

* * *

~meanwhile in the Ra Yellow Dorms~

In a peculiar room,

A collection of cards were lain out on the floor in front of Kohara. Ohara sat on his knees by Kohara, watching his friend as he stared at the cards.

"Damn it all…" said Kohara. "Making a fool of me like that…"

Kohara looked at the cards he just laid out, a certain glint in his eyes.

"Those damn Obelisks…" cursed Kohara.

* * *

Sometime later,

Shou, Hayato, and Jaden sat behind a pedestal of some sort just outside the Main Academy Building. Jaden was currently folding up the sleeves to the jacket Hayato made her wear before they had gone out…one of his jackets to be precise. Apparently, Hayato didn't want his female roommate to walk out of the dorm wearing nothing but a tank-top and pair of shorts…even if she didn't have much of a choice with the current bandages she had on. He wasn't just gonna let her waltz out of the room like that!

So for his solution, Hayato lent Jaden one of his jackets and didn't let her step out of the room until she had buttoned it and kept it closed. The jacket went down to her knees, covering practically her whole body, making Jaden seem even smaller…well, smaller than Shou and that was something since they were about the same height.

More to the point and off that subject, the trio was waiting for anything suspicious that may lead them to the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night. So far, an hour has passed and no such luck…

Shou looked at Jaden as she finished folding up the jacket's sleeve.

"Aniki, is he really going to show up?" asked Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou and placed her finger on her lips to motion him to quiet down.

"Shh!" hissed Jaden. "Just be quiet and wait!"

Hayato frowned and looked at his roommates.

"While we're doing all this, I think it'd be better to finish those reports…" suggested Hayato.

Shou and Jaden stared at Hayato when a loud scream caught their attention (and scared the living day lights out of them). Out of the three of them, Jaden was the first to move and grabbed her duel disk from Shou, her deck having been in the pocket of the jacket she wore.

"Over there!" exclaimed Jaden.

Both Hayato and Shou stood up as their roommate ran towards where the scream came from.

"Aniki!" cried Shou.

Jaden ignored Shou and continued running. After a few moments, she came upon an Obelisk Blue student who was on the ground on his knees lamenting his loss.

"My…rare card's…" said the Obelisk Blue student.

Jaden gasped and ran over to the Obelisk Blue.

"Where'd that guy go?" asked Jaden.

The Obelisk Blue looked up and gasped. Jaden's eyes widened as she backed up.

"_Aw, crap!"_ thought Jaden.

The Obelisk Blue had two black-eyes and a bandage over his swollen and bruised nose. It wasn't that his condition surprised Jaden…it was because this was the guy she just finished beating up earlier in the hallway after taking a small beating herself! Talk about a small world…then again, they _were_ on an island.

Shuichi backed away from Jaden, not wanting to face another beating from the Osiris Red or the koala-resembling boy. It was bad enough Ayukawa scolded him for beating up a smaller student like Jaden, but leaving the consequences up to someone else…whoever that was; it sure as hell wasn't going to be Professor Chronos.

Jaden, getting over the shock, ignored today's events and asked Shuichi again.

"Where'd he go?" asked Jaden.

Shuichi nervously directed Jaden ahead, to which she immediately started running towards.

"Over there?" she asked.

Shuichi let out the breath he didn't know he was holding in as Jaden ran off. However, his bubble of relief was burst as a voice called out to the Osiris Red.

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Shuichi turned his head and his eyes widened as he saw Shou and Hayato running towards him. He immediately recognized the koala-resembling boy and cowered over as he repeatedly apologized for today's earlier events.

Hayato looked at Shuichi as he and Shou passed him and recognized the Obelisk Blue (it was kind of hard to forget the broken nose…).

"He's from this afternoon!" exclaimed Hayato.

Some moments later, Jaden spotted a large figure dressed in a bunch of Obelisk Blue jackets walking away in the forest and called out as her roommates ran after her.

"Hold it!" shouted Jaden.

The figure dressed in Obelisk Blue jackets stopped in his tracks as Jaden pointed at him.

"You're the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night, I take it?" asked Jaden.

Shou and Hayato stopped by Jaden's side and looked at the person that stood a few feet away from them.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Shou. "He's really huge!"

The Giant Duelist of the Dark Night turned around to face the Osiris Red trio, intimidating Shou and Hayato slightly with his size. Jaden immediately distanced herself from her roommates. Last thing she needed was another stunt that happened on the 'Duel Spirit' incident…Dear Ra, never again!

Jaden crossed her arms and stared at the giant duelist who stood in front of her. Shou tugged slightly on her sleeve to catch her attention. Jaden turned to Shou and noticed the anxious look in his eyes.

"Aniki, why don't we get out of here?" asked Shou. "I mean, this is bad!"

Hayato agreed with Shou, however, their female roommate…not so much. Jaden stared at the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night and smiled.

"Looks like I finally met you!" said Jaden. "Now, duel me!"

The Giant Duelist of the Dark Night stayed silent as Jaden stared at him. Jaden pointed at the giant duelist as she held her duel disk under her left arm.

"So you play with the Ante Rule, huh?" said Jaden.

Silence…

A light glowed in the jacket's pocket before Winged Kuriboh appeared and flew out onto Jaden's shoulder.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden blinked and turned to face her partner, smiling when she understood his presence.

"I get it," she said. "You're believing in me and fighting with me, huh?"

Winged Kuriboh disappeared, to which Jaden took that action as a 'yes'. She smiled and reached for her deck in her duel disk. She quickly looked through her deck before choosing a card and looking back at the Obelisk Blue jacket-clad duelist.

"If I lose, I'll forfeit this!" Jaden said, holding up her card of choice for the duelist to see.

Shou looked at Jaden's card and gasped. It was her most cherished card…Winged Kuriboh.

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou. "That's…"

Jaden smiled as she explained Winged Kuriboh's card value. As she did that, memories of the entrance exam day popped up in mind. Had her train never been late, she would have never met-er, _bumped_ into the duelist who gave her Winged Kuriboh.

"It's a rare card I got from the King of Games, Yugi Mutou," said Jaden.

Shou and Hayato stared awestruck at Jaden. She never told them about that little detail and now that she has, it was shocking…Especially since she was putting the card up for bargain in an Ante Duel!

"Something so valuable…" said Shou.

Hayato looked at Jaden and recognized the look in her eyes.

"She's serious," said Hayato. "Looks like we won't be able to stop her now."

Shou looked at Jaden anxiously.

"Aniki…" said Shou.

The Giant Duelist of the Dark Night just stayed silent as he listened to a small voice that seemed to be coming off of from what might've been a headset.

"**All right, but don't regret it,"** said the voice.

The giant duelist repeated what the voice had told him, earning an ecstatic grin from Jaden. Jaden tried to place on her duel disk, but had difficulty with the jacket's sleeve. Seeing as she didn't want to fold the sleeves again, she decided to screw it and placed her duel disk down before she began unbuttoning the jacket she wore.

Hayato stuttered as he watched Jaden take off the jacket he lent her and caught it when she threw it at him. Clad in nothing but the clothes she had on earlier, Jaden didn't care about her appearance and just reached down for her duel disk and placed it on her left arm so she could get the duel started.

"Let's go!" Jaden said as she held out her left arm, her duel disk activating.

The Giant Duelist of the Dark Night held out his left arm and activated his duel disk as well.

"Right!" he said.

Both Jaden and the giant duelist placed their decks inside their duel disk before they both said, "Duel!"

Jaden:

LP

4000

Giant Duelist of the Dark Night:

LP

4000

The Giant Duelist of the Dark Night reached for his deck.

"My turn!" he said, drawing a card. "Draw! I summon Giant Orc in attack mode!"

A giant, ogre-like monster with light, grey skin and a big bone his right hand.

ATK 2200

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Shou's face as he stared at Giant Orc.

"To think he's already summoned a 2200-ATK monster…" said Shou.

"Well, after all, he _has_ beaten all those Obelisk Blues," stated Hayato.

Jaden smiled as she remembered facts about Giant Orc. Once again, knowledge used when she's doing things her father would never approve of.

"_I have got to stop thinking of him!"_ thought Jaden. _"I'm still a little mad at him for the _Twilight_ gift…"_

Which had indeed been used as marshmallow fire and boy did those s'mores taste good! But more to the point, Jaden knew about Giant Orc and decided to reassure her roommates with what she knew about the monster.

"Giant Orc's a monster that goes into defense mode once it attacks!" said Jaden. "And his DEF is zero. That's far from a scary opponent."

The Giant Duelist of the Dark Night kept his composure and just said, "My turn has finished."

Jaden smiled and reached for her deck.

"My turn!" said Jaden. "Draw!"

The moment Jaden drew a card; a 'kuri kuri' notified her that it was Winged Kuriboh. She looked at her card with a serious expression.

"I'm counting on you so I won't have to give you to anyone!" Jaden said before holding it up. "I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!"

Winged Kuriboh appeared on Jaden's side of the field, giving a 'kuri kuri' in response as if to say he understood.

DEF 200

Jaden smiled.

"My turn's ended," she said.

The Giant Duelist of the Dark Night just stayed silent, earning a perplexed stare from Jaden. A few moments had passed before he made his move, to which he did slightly nervously.

"M-My turn!" he stuttered a bit. "Draw! I use Giant Orc to attack Winged Kuriboh!"

As the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night drew a card, Giant Orc charged towards Winged Kuriboh and swung his club-like bone up. Winged Kuriboh closed his eyes and shielded himself before Giant Orc brought down his club-like bone onto the winged furball, creating a small explosion.

Jaden shielded herself from the explosion and looked at the giant duelist, smiling.

"Thanks, Winged Kuriboh," said Jaden. "With this, Giant Orc goes into defense mode."

Giant Orc returned to his position on the field and switched to a defensive stance.

DEF 0

Shou held up his fist.

"All right!" said Shou. "Now she'll beat that Giant Orc!"

The Giant Duelist of the Dark Night stared at Jaden.

"How naïve," remarked the giant duelist.

Jaden looked questioningly at her opponent.

"Next, I'll summon Second Goblin in attack mode!" the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night said as he placed his card in a different slot on his duel disk.

Shou and Hayato looked perplexed at the giant duelist.

"Huh?" said Shou. "It's a Monster card, yet he's playing it as a Magic?"

A small, pale-maroon skinned goblin with a towel around his neck appeared on Giant Orc's back.

"Once a turn, this card can be equipped onto Giant Orc as an Equip card," explained the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night. "And it can return it into attack mode!"

Giant Orc stood up from his defensive stance and went into his offensive one.

"Eh…?" said Shou. "No way…"

"It's a well-planned combo," Hayato comment, having been observing the giant duelist's strategy.

Jaden stared at the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night (A/N Just bear with the name!) as he paused momentarily before finishing his turn.

"My turn's ended," he said.

Jaden reached for her deck.

"My turn!" she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden glanced at her card and continued her turn.

"I'll activate the Magic card, Polymerization, from my hand!" Jaden said as she played Polymerization before grabbing two cards from her hand. "I fuse Elemental Heroes Clayman and Burstinatrix in my hand together…to summon Elemental Hero Rampart Gunner!"

Burstinatrix and Clayman both appeared on the field together, side by side as Polymerization began to work its affect on them and created Rampart Gunner.

"Defense mode!" said Jaden.

Rampart Gunner took her defensive stance with her gun-arm aimed towards the opponent she faced.

DEF 2500

"I activate Rampart Gunner's special ability!" Jaden said, smiling. "While this card's in defense mode, it deals half her ATK as damage to the opposing player!"

Jaden brought down her fist as the giant duelist was astonished with what he just heard. Rampart Gunner readied her gun-arm and launched her missile-like bullets at the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night, creating a small explosion. The giant duelist shielded himself as the attack took a toll on his life points.

Giant Duelist of the Dark Night:

LP

3000

The attack also blew off the tattered Obelisk Blue jackets the giant duelist wore, much to his dismay as he covered his face. Jaden stared at the giant duelist and laughed a bit as she not only recognized him, but she had also been right to whom she thought he was.

Shou tightened his fists and stared perplexed at the uncovered identity of the Giant Duelist of the Dark Night.

"Huh?" said Shou. "Ohara-kun!"

Hayato held up his fist as the person dueling Jaden was indeed Ohara.

"So, it was really him?" asked Hayato.

Ohara looked down nervously as he tried to figure out what to do.

"W-What should I do?" Ohara asked, his questioned being directed at something behind a rock nearby him.

Jaden tightened her fist and stepped forward.

"How about you just come out here?" Jaden snapped, pointing accusingly at Ohara. "Let's face off and duel the right way!"

Both Hayato and Shou were thrown off by Jaden's outburst. Ohara looked back nervously as something rustled in the bushes. A few moments had passed before a small-heighted Ra Yellow with dark-green hair jumped out from behind the rock. This surprised Jaden's roommates as they stared at the small-heighted Ra Yellow, perplexed.

"Huh?" said Hayato. "It's that Ra Yellow…"

"Kohara-kun?" exclaimed Shou.

Kohara smirked as he stared at Jaden, somewhat amused with a question in mind. Though, he couldn't help but wonder about the Osiris Red's current attire as well as the bandages that were wrapped around Jaden's arms and legs.

"How'd you find out?" asked Kohara.

Jaden smiled at Kohara.

"I didn't feel any soul from Ohara while we were dueling," Jaden replied before pointing at Ohara. "I thought it was like dueling with a puppet as an opponent."

Kohara gripped the headset he wore as Ohara looked at him.

"You're right," Kohara said as he took off the headset he wore. "He was just dueling as I told him to."

"And when I saw you duel this afternoon, it all came together," Jaden continued on, smiling as she did. "You're actually pretty strong, aren't you?"

Kohara stayed silent and motioned for Ohara to come closer to him, which he did. Shou looked questioningly at Kohara after hearing Jaden's statement.

"But then, why'd you do this?" asked Shou. "If you just dueled normally…"

Kohara scowled at Shou.

"If I could do that, I wouldn't be suffering!" snapped Kohara.

Kohara's outburst had silenced Shou and caught both his and Hayato's attention.

"It's not like I like being nervous," Kohara said as he held his wrist. "But when I stand in that duel arena, I feel pressured by my opponents…I end up not knowing what's what, and then I lose."

Jaden stared at Kohara as he placed his hand reassuringly on Ohara's shoulder.

"It's the same for Ohara," said Kohara. "Even though he's got a big body, he's afraid and gets treated like junk and stuff. Those damn Obelisk Blues, making fools out of us!"

* * *

~flashback~

_Kohara and Ohara were both on the floor in their room, looking over the cards that were laid around them._

_"Don't worry," reassured Kohara. "We'll get back at them, just the two of us!"_

_Ohara looked at Kohara as the smaller Ra Yellow placed his hand on his shoulder._

_"Kohara-kun…" said Ohara._

_Kohara grinned._

_"We're going to crush those guys!" he said._

_Ohara just stared at Kohara._

~end of flashback~

* * *

"So, that's why you used the Ante Rule on them…" said Shou.

Jaden stared at Kohara.

"Is there any point in doing that?" asked Jaden.

Kohara looked questioningly at Jaden.

"What?" he exclaimed.

Jaden smiled as she explained.

"If losing a duel is mortifying, you just need to put an effort in a fair-and-square duel to win!" she said, closing her eyes afterwards as she smiled ecstatically. "That way, dueling'll no doubt end up being fun!"

Kohara stared at Jaden as she smiled and laughed a bit. Somehow he found her current expression cute and that was when he snapped out of it. He shook his head in denial as he tried to ignore what Jaden had told him.

"Shut up!" snapped Kohara. "Shut up!"

Kohara scowled at Jaden.

"No matter what you do, we'll win!" said Kohara. "Let's go, Ohara!"

Ohara looked at Kohara and nodded before taking his position and reaching for his deck.

"My turn!" Kohara said as Ohara drew a card. "Draw!"

Ohara placed the card he drew next to the ones in his hand as he lowered them for Kohara to see.

"I summon King Goblin in attack mode!" said Kohara.

Ohara looked at the cards and played the one he finished drawing. A small, green-skinned goblin wearing a crown on his head and a rather majestic, red robe appeared on the field.

ATK 0

Jaden looked questioningly at King Goblin.

"His ATK is zero?" said Jaden.

Kohara continued his and Ohara's turn.

"Next, by discarding the Warrior-type monsters I have in my hand to the Graveyard, I'll special-summon Half Goblins…in defense mode!" said Kohara.

Two goblin-like monsters appeared on Kohara and Ohara's side of the field.

DEF 500 (both)

"I activate King Goblin's special ability!" said Kohara. "This card's ATK and DEF becomes 1000 points times the number of other Demon-type monsters on the field!"

King Goblin opened up his robes, revealing a strange vortex as both Half Goblins were sucked in. King Goblin closed his robes and tightened his fists as he roared, somewhat bigger in height than he previously was.

ATK: Previously, 0

Now…3000!

Jaden's eyes widened.

"What?" she exclaimed.

Hayato and Shou were astonished with King Goblin's sudden 3000-ATK (as well as height gain).

"It has 3000 ATK!" said Hayato.

"No way!" said Shou.

Kohara held up his arm as he directed King Goblin to attack.

"Go, King Goblin!" said Kohara. "Attack Rampart Gunner!"

Ohara mimicked Kohara, sending King Goblin right at Rampart Gunner. King Goblin charged at Rampart Gunner and punched her right in the stomach, sending her up in the air and destroying her.

"I use Giant Orc to attack directly!" Kohara said, thrusting his fist forward.

Second Goblin jumped off Giant Orc as he charged towards Jaden and brought down his club-like bone on her. Jaden shielded herself and yelled as the bone hit her.

Jaden:

LP

1800

Giant Orc returned to his position on the field and went back into his defensive stance.

"With Second Goblin's Equip card effect, Giant Orc is returned into attack mode!" said Kohara.

Second Goblin jumped up into the air in back of Giant Orc and used the towel around his neck to fan the bigger monster. After a few moments, Giant Orc stood up and was back to his offensive mode.

"My turn's finished!" Kohara said, grinning. "How's that? I'm actually strong!"

Jaden held up her fist and looked sternly at Kohara.

"No, all you're doing is just borrowing someone else's power to pretend you're strong!" Jaden remarked, holding up her left arm afterwards as she reached for her deck. "Doing that won't make you a real duelist!"

Kohara clenched his teeth as he glared at Jaden.

"My turn!" Jaden said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card in her hand.

"From my hand, I activate the Magic card, Pot of Greed!" she said, drawing two cards. "I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!"

Elemental Hero Sparkman appeared on the field.

ATK 1600

"Next, I activate the Equip Magic, Spark Gun!" said Jaden. "I'll equip it to Sparkman!

A gun appeared in Sparkman's right hand as Jaden activated the Equip card's effect.

"Spark Gun can change a monster's battle mode three times!" explained Jaden.

Sparkman aimed his gun at the monsters on the opponent's field and pulled the trigger three times, hitting both Half Goblins and Giant Orc. Said three monsters switched from their offensive to defensive stances. Kohara's eyes widened.

"What?" he exclaimed.

The gun in Sparkman's hand disintegrated after its three uses. Jaden smiled and held her hand up.

"I'm not done!" said Jaden. "The Magic card, Warrior's Return!"

Jaden turned over the card in her hand to show Kohara and Ohara as she explained its effect.

"This card adds one Warrior-type monster from my Graveyard to my hand!" Jaden said, picking up the card her duel disk ejected from the Graveyard before switching it with a card from her hand. "The Magic card, Polymerization! I'll fuse Clayman from my hand and Sparkman from my field together to summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

Clayman and Sparkman leapt up into the air together before Polymerization merged them together, forming Elemental Hero Thunder Giant.

ATK 2400

"I activate his special effect!" Jaden said as she held her fist up. "Thunder Giant can destroy a monster whose original ATK is lower than his own! Destroy King Goblin! Vapor Spark!"

Electricity crackled in Thunder Giant's right hand as he sent a wave of electrical currents at King Goblin, destroying the monster. King Goblin's destruction created an explosion that sent both Ohara and Kohara onto the ground. (3)

Kohara & Ohara:

LP

0

Jaden smiled as Shou and Hayato walked up to her.

"A-Awesome, Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Hayato couldn't agree more with Shou.

"An attack that was like swords clashing!" commented Hayato.

Ohara and Kohara pushed themselves off the ground and were both now on their knees. Kohara looked down with a somber expression.

"We lost," said Kohara. "Do what you like."

Ohara looked at Kohara.

"Kohara-kun…" said Ohara.

Ohara looked up at Jaden as she walked over to them.

"Please, forgive Kohara-kun!" pleaded Ohara.

Kohara turned to Ohara with a perplexed expression.

"Ohara!" said Kohara.

Ohara looked at his smaller friend.

"I was really happy when you got angry and worried about me over yourself," said Ohara. "That's why I wanted to do something to pay you back."

Kohara's expression softened as Ohara continued.

"As a duelist, I'm sure you'll really become stronger," said Ohara.

"But you're going to be a game designer, aren't you?" asked Kohara.

Ohara closed his eyes and smiled at Kohara.

"I don't mind," replied Ohara.

Kohara looked at Ohara, his eyes beginning to water at his larger friend's selfless response.

"Ohara…" said Kohara.

Jaden smiled as she stood in front of the two Ra Yellows and placed her hands on her hips.

"You're good friends, huh?" asked Jaden.

Both Ohara and Kohara looked questioningly at Jaden as Hayato and Shou walked up to her.

"Duelists need strength to fight alone, but friendship is important too," said Jaden. "Go."

Kohara looked perplexed at Jaden as she pointed two fingers at him and smiled.

"That was a fun duel!" Jaden said, tilting her head to the side as she winked at the small Ra Yellow. "Wanna do it again sometime?"

Kohara stared at Jaden as she held out her hand to him. He took her hand and was helped up by the Osiris Red off the ground.

"By the way, you won't have to worry about those Obelisk Blues," said Jaden.

Kohara looked at Jaden.

"Oh, I saw that…why did you do it?" asked Kohara.

Jaden crossed her arms and blinked before smiling widely.

"Because I can't stand around letting Obelisk Blues treating those they think are inferior to them," replied Jaden. "I took a small beating, but for what it was worth…I'm okay!"

Kohara nodded and stopped as, despite finding Jaden's actions rather thoughtful, he remembered Jaden's current attire and appearance. As his curiosity was piqued, he couldn't help but voice his question.

"What's up with the bandages?" asked Kohara. "Didn't they just punch and kick you around?"

Jaden blinked and looked at herself as she tugged on her tank-top.

"Oh, this?" asked Jaden. "I fell into a thorn bush on the way back—uh, what the heck?"

Jaden fumbled around under the jacket Hayato had just thrown over the gender-mistaken girl. Shou sweat dropped as both Ohara and Kohara looked questioningly at Hayato.

"What the heck, Hayato?" exclaimed Jaden.

Hayato sighed and shook his head as he crossed his arms.

"You shouldn't flaunt around like that," remarked Hayato. "Also, you still have no assets no matter how less you wear." (4)

Jaden growled under the jacket and pulled it off forcefully before she glared daggers at Hayato. Shou's face turned red as he knew what Hayato was implying while both Ohara and Kohara were both perplexed to what the koala-resembling boy meant by 'no assets'.

"Shut it, Koala-man!" snapped Jaden. "What do you care if I wear this? Ayukawa-sensei said that I'm not supposed to change out of this until tomorrow when I can take off the bandages!"

"That doesn't mean you can't put on a shirt!" retorted Hayato.

Jaden tightened her fists.

"What if I don't want to wear a shirt?" exclaimed Jaden.

"Then at least cover up!" replied Hayato. "Show some modesty!"

Shou sighed as Hayato and Jaden started to argue again…which was surprisingly the first time they've done in the past two weeks since they last did it. Shou noticed the looks on the Ra Yellows' faces and decided to let them in on one very common misconception revolving around his Aniki…

One small answer and a loud outburst later…

Kohara and Ohara stared at Jaden, shocked. One wouldn't blame them for reacting this way after today's events…especially since the Osiris Red who took a small beating before turning the tables was actually a girl! That just made everything rather shocking, confusing, and not to mention rather sweet since Jaden did it for them on her own accord and had not once complained about getting beat up.

Stunned by this, Kohara couldn't help but thank Jaden.

"Thank you, Jaden-kun," said Kohara.

Jaden looked away from Hayato as she had him in a headlock and turned to Kohara. She closed her eyes and smiled at him and his friend.

"No problem!" said Jaden.

Kohara smiled.

"Someday, I'll become even stronger, and I'll be a real duelist!" said Kohara. "Until then, wait for me."

Jaden opened her eyes and released Hayato, whom fell onto the ground face first. Shou walked over to Hayato and helped him up as Jaden walked up to Kohara.

"That's the spirit," said Jaden. "You can do it, can't you?"

Kohara laughed a bit as Ohara stood up from the ground. Ohara looked at Jaden and smiled before chuckling a bit as well. With that done, both Ra Yellows started to make their way back to their respective dorm as they waved back at their newly made friend.

"See ya!" Kohara called out.

Jaden smiled as she watched Ohara and Kohara run away. Hayato and Shou walked up to their female roommate before the latter just realized something.

"A-Aniki!" said Shou. "Now that I think of it…"

Hayato and Jaden turned to Shou.

"Looks like we'll have to write those reports, after all…" said Shou.

That definitely ruined the moment and snapped Jaden back into reality as she paled and looked up, groaning in dismay. Hayato laughed and placed his jacket over Jaden before he and Shou dragged her back to the Osiris Red dorms…hey, they weren't going to take any more chances to having their female roommate fall into another thorn bush!

* * *

~the next day~

It was Saturday, the last day of the week and the day where one can kick back and lay about after classes…well, that is if they don't have any homework or such.

For Jaden, today happened to be a good day despite having to stay in after class once the lunch bell rang! Her cuts didn't scar, her bruises were barely visible, and her tailbone stopped hurting…all Jaden needed to do was to go to Ayukawa to get the rest of the bandages off and she was good to go. Along with that set of good news, Daitokuji gave the Obelisk Blues she had to deal with yesterday a month's worth of detention, which thankfully didn't get her and Hayato in trouble for beating them up thanks to Ohara and Kohara backing them up as witnesses to the incident… and Tome promised to make her a boxed lunch with her favorite dish: Fried shrimp!

So, overall, having to stay in class to finish writing the duel theory report wasn't that much bad…even if Professor Chronos had been the one to hold them back. Professor Chronos was confused after questioning Jaden.

"That mysterious duelist…wasn't there?" asked Professor Chronos. "That can't be-_na no ne_!"

Jaden concentrated on filling out the pile of papers that were given to her, quickly switching them out with a blank paper from the pile once she completely filled it out and placing it in the neat stack that was to her right. Shou was also doing the same as Jaden while Hayato watched them, having already finished his duel theory report.

"We looked for him, but since the guy was nowhere to be seen, you can't blame us, can you?" asked Jaden.

Professor Chronos scowled at Jaden and turned his back to her as he crossed his arms and held up his finger.

"Some of the Obelisk Blue students had their rare cards taken-_no ne_!" Professor Chronos stated as a matter a fact.

Jaden continued to move her pen (pencil, whatever!) over the paper quickly as she switched it with another one after she finished filling it out. She continued repeating this as she countered Professor Chronos's statement.

"They all probably have their rare cards!" said Jaden.

Professor Chronos looked back at Jaden over his shoulder.

* * *

Meanwhile,

Outside the Main Academy Building, a group of Obelisk Blues were rejoicing in the return of their missing rare cards.

"Aah!" said one of the Obelisk Blues. "My Perfect Machine King's back!"

"Whoa!" said another. "Same here!"

"What a relief!" said a third.

Watching the Obelisk Blue students from a close, but unseen distance behind a pedestal of some sort, were Ohara and Kohara. They both looked at each other and smiled, having felt like they've done the right thing.

* * *

Back in the Main Academy Building,

Professor Chronos was currently tilting his head to the side before tilting it to the other and so on, in confusion.

"What are you saying-_na no ne_?" asked Professor Chronos. "Tartar sauce! _Tappriasi_!" (5)

Jaden ignored Professor Chronos as she continued to finish her duel theory report. Unbeknownst to her, someone was paying a small visit to her dorm and room after having a small talk with Daitokuji. Daitokuji waved as Asuka Tenjoin walked towards Jaden's room with a key in her hand.

"Tenjoin-kun!" said Daitokuji. "You'll probably find Jaden-kun in the store or the infirmary after she's done with her report-nya!"

Asuka looked back at Daitokuji as she used the key in her hand to open the door to Jaden's room. She smiled and waved at Daitokuji.

"Thank you, Daitokuji-sensei!" said Asuka.

Daitokuji nodded as he bent down to pick up Pharaoh, whom had been rubbing against his leg.

"Just try to keep her out of trouble-nya!" said Daitokuji.

Asuka nodded and entered the room while she reached for the pouch on her hip to take out her PDA. After sending a small little message to her friends, Asuka looked around Jaden's room and sighed.

"I get the feeling you're not using your room," said Asuka. "And after all that waiting…"

Asuka crossed her arms and gave a small grin.

"So like you to do that," said Asuka. "Now where are your clothes…?"

And so began the search for Jaden's good clothes, which Asuka had surprisingly managed to find one…and it was a dress! There was a small note on the dress that caught the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue's attention. She picked it up and read it, finding it rather amusing. It was from Jaden's father, though the dress wasn't exactly from him, but some lady named Midori Hibiki. Asuka came to a stop on a name she found rather familiar and was shocked when she remembered where she heard it.

"How does Jaden know Kouyou Hibiki?" asked Asuka.

…Sigh.

"Knowing Jaden, I shouldn't be surprised for her to know the three-time Duel Monsters champion," remarked Asuka.

Asuka shook her head and continued to look around Jaden's room. After finding pretty much nothing else except for the dress (that she had a hunch that Jaden would immediately send back once she had the opportunity to) and the female Obelisk Blue uniform she lent to Jaden, Asuka folded up the dress and picked up the bag with the uniform.

Once she was done, Asuka walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, locking it afterwards.

* * *

Sometime later,

Jaden dashed out of infirmary the moment Ayukawa had taken off her bandages and said that she could go. As she made her way out of the Main Academy Building and towards the store, Jaden wondered how Shou was doing seeing as she finished her duel theory report before him. Since Hayato was there with him, Jaden assumed that everything was okay.

If only she knew about the writer's cramp Shou was experiencing right now, then Jaden would've thought twice…or maybe not. This _was_ Jaden, of course…who was currently waiting at the counter for Tome.

"Oi, Tome-san!" said Jaden. "I'm here!"

Tome walked out of the staff room behind the counter and smiled when she saw Jaden.

"Hello, Jaden-chan," said Tome. "So I take it you're here for your boxed lunch, right?"

Jaden nodded eagerly, to which Tome couldn't help but laugh a little at.

"Very well," said Tome. "Hold on one moment, I'll go get it."

Jaden nodded and watched as Tome made her way towards the staff room. Before the Tome had entered the room, she looked back at the gender-mistaken girl.

"If you want, you could try your luck with the Drawbread while you wait," said Tome. "Don't worry about paying, I'm buying."

Jaden blinked and turned over to the cart full of unmarked packages as Tome entered the staff room. The packages each had a light blue wrapper each with the Duel Academy's insignia on them and inside of them were many types of bread. A few students, some Obelisk Blues, a few Ra Yellows, and a couple of Osiris Reds, were by the cart as Jaden walked over to it.

One of the Obelisk Blues, a boy with dark-brown hair, stuck his hand into the packages as he randomly chose one before pulling out and opening it. He brought the bread he just finished opening and bit into it, cursing as it was not the one he wanted.

"Damn it!" swore the dark-brown haired boy.

A black-haired Obelisk Blue boy looked at his friend as he opened a package.

"Koroke bread again, Reizo-san?" asked the black-haired boy.

The dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue, Reizo, turned to the black-haired boy as he opened his own respective package.

"No, it was fried soba," replied Reizo. "So, what did you get, Taniguchi?"

The black-haired boy, Taniguchi bit into his bread and chewed questionably before he answered.

"Pizza bread," Taniguchi answered before swallowing.

Jaden waited impatiently for the Obelisk Blue students to move as they were in her way. Feeling as if she waited long enough, Jaden pushed through the boys, not caring about the anger she just provoked.

"Move it!" said Jaden. "There are others waiting, you know! You guys aren't the only ones here!"

Taniguchi and Reizo scowled at Jaden as she moved her hand deeper among the various unmarked packages. Reizo tightened his fist and walked closer to Jaden as she picked out a random package. As she opened it, the dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue was about to punch the Osiris Red when…

"Jaden-chan!" said Tome.

Reizo immediately froze and backed away from Jaden, not wanting to get in trouble with Tome. Taniguchi rolled his eyes at his friend's reaction. Fortunately for him, Jaden didn't seem to notice Reizo or his friend as she turned around. She was currently chewing on the bite she took from her bread, which she happily exclaimed what it was after swallowing.

"Oi, Tome-san!" exclaimed Jaden. "I got the Golden Egg Bread!"

Cue annoyed groans and insert a few swears from random students around the cart here…

Tome smiled at Jaden as the gender-mistaken dashed over to the counter where she was currently at, holding a black box in her hands. Tome held out the box to Jaden.

"Here you go!" said Tome. "One specially made handmade boxed lunch! Enjoy it with your Golden Egg bread, Jaden-kun!"

Jaden was about to accept the boxed lunch Tome held out for her when suddenly, the younger girl felt herself being lifted off the ground by her armpits by two girls. The way she was lifted up was in a very familiar, certain twin-like manner and the girls were none other than the very same two Obelisk Blue girls who had done this to her before a few days ago…Junko and Momoe.

"Abduction…" said Junko.

"…complete!" finished Momoe.

A/N Another Ouran High twin moment and I got the quote off the subbed version, so there!

Jaden did not like the sound of that as she knew from experience that this wasn't going to be good…well, for her, it wasn't. Her expression grew nervous as Junko and Momoe looked at her with expressions that suggested something.

"Not again…" whined Jaden.

Junko and Momoe looked at each other and giggled before dragging Jaden away. Jaden's eyes turned huge and shone with unshed tears as she realized, not only was she being dragged away against her will (again), but she didn't get her boxed lunch.

"Hey!" wailed Jaden. "What about my boxed lunch?"

As if on cue, Asuka walked up to the counter and took the boxed lunch Tome had in her hands. Tome looked questioningly at Junko and Momoe as they dragged away the Osiris Red student.

"What's going on?" asked Tome.

"Oh, just a little girls' day out," answered Asuka.

Tome turned to Asuka and looked at her questioningly. Asuka sighed and explained.

"It was something Momoe and Junko planned out after they discovered, you know," said Asuka.

Tome blinked and nodded in comprehension.

"Oh, so they found out about Jaden-_chan_," Tome said, putting emphasis on the 'chan' as if to point out Junko and Momoe's discovery. She found it amusing that Jaden was still thought as male and having heard Asuka, she couldn't help but ask, "So what have they got planned out?"

Asuka shrugged.

"Not really sure, they left me out of most of it," said Asuka. "If you want, I could give you some photos to show you."

Tome smiled and nodded as she said, "It would be nice to put something interesting in my album."

Waiting by the door with a currently struggling Jaden, were Junko and Momoe. They ignored the stared given at them from the students by the Drawbread cart. Feeling a bit impatient, Junko called out to Asuka.

"Asuka-san!" Junko called out.

"We're waiting for you!" said Momoe.

Asuka turned to look back at her roommates and their struggling 'hostage'. She sighed and turned back to Tome.

"Sorry, but I have to go," said Asuka. "See you around, Tome-san!"

Tome nodded as Asuka started to make her way towards her friends. The older woman smiled as she turned and walked into the staff room.

"Daitokuji and Samejima-san would probably want to hear about this…" said Tome.

Back with the Obelisk Blue trio and their hostage,

Asuka stopped in front of Junko and Momoe as Jaden continued to struggle.

"Let me go!" whined Jaden.

Momoe closed her eyes and grinned.

"No can do, Jaden-kun," said Momoe.

Jaden went limp and groaned in dismay.

"Can I at least have my Golden Egg Bread?" asked Jaden.

Asuka looked at Jaden perplexed.

"What?" Asuka asked.

Junko held up the package of bread that she had just finished taking out of Jaden's hand a few moments ago and gave it to Asuka. Asuka looked at the bread and then at Jaden.

"You got the Golden Egg Bread?" asked Asuka.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Asuka.

"Yeah, why you ask?" said Jaden. "What, you want some?"

Asuka stuttered a bit, to which Jaden grinned.

"You like Golden Egg Bread, don't you?" Jaden asked in a teasing tone.

Asuka blushed and turned away from Jaden as the door automatically slid open.

"D-Don't talk nonsense!" snapped Asuka. "I was just wondering—"

Jaden grinned at Asuka, not noticing that she was being dragged at this exact moment out the door by Junko and Momoe.

"Okay, I'll give you half," said Jaden.

Asuka followed after her roommates as she unexcitedly said, "F-Fine."

Jaden closed her eyes and laughed a bit before snapping back into reality. She looked up at Junko and Momoe with puppy-dog-eyes.

"Hey!" wailed Jaden. "Where are we going?"

Jaden got no answer as Asuka's roommates continued to drag her away into a certain direction. Asuka sighed as she tried to calm herself down from the excitement Jaden caused her by questioning her about liking the Golden Egg Bread. It wasn't that Asuka hated, it was the exact opposite and she was inwardly thrilled at Jaden sharing half her Golden Egg bread with the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue.

However, Asuka, being herself, wasn't just going to show her absolute glee over the Golden Egg Bread…even if the Drawbread cart only had one each day and the chances of drawing one wasn't exactly common and this chance Jaden had offered her half of it was one in a million (to Asuka). She had a reputation to uphold and no one was going to take her seriously again if they knew how she _really_ felt about a certain type of bread. Fortunately for her, Jaden was the only one who knew (after recently discovering it through a simple question) and the Osiris Red _always_ took her seriously…well, most of the time, she did.

As the Obelisk Blue trio exited the store with their Osiris Red hostage, watching them leave were two Obelisk Blues that Jaden had just encountered by the Drawbread cart. Taniguchi wasn't pleased…hell! He was frustrated with what he just saw! The same could apply to Reizo, though only partially since he was currently thinking of something.

"That lucky bastard!" said Taniguchi. "An Osiris Red like him getting dragged away by two A- and A+ girls!"

Reizo diverted his eyes on Taniguchi.

"Who was who again?" asked Reizo.

Taniguchi turned to his friend and held up his finger.

"Junko Makurada isn't that bad too look at and she has decent grades," said Taniguchi. "Plus, she's got a nice bust size, but not as nice as Momoe Hamaguchi's, so in short, an A-."

Reizo diverted his eyes to the side.

"And Momoe is the A+, right?" asked Reizo.

Taniguchi placed his arm around Reizo's shoulder.

"You're catching on, Reizo-san!" said Taniguchi.

Reizo narrowed his eyes at Taniguchi, to which the black-haired boy immediately distance himself as he smiled nervously. Reizo shook his head and crossed his arms.

"What about that girl whose name we don't know?" Reizo suggested.

Taniguchi arched his brow at Reizo.

"You mean that one who knocked you down with one kick just because you were flirting with her?" asked Taniguchi.

Reizo glared at Taniguchi.

"When you put it that way, it makes me want to punch you," remarked Reizo.

Taniguchi laughed nervously and cleared his throat.

"Anyways, she has a pretty face, I got to give you that," said Taniguchi. "But that's about it. She lacks curves and a nice set of hills, if you know what I mean. She would've look like a 12 year-old boy had it not been the uniform she was wearing and she could fight. So in all…I'll give her at least an A."

Reizo narrowed his eyes at Taniguchi.

"So just because she doesn't have any breasts or curves, you immediately dock off points?" asked Reizo.

Taniguchi waved it off.

"Yeah, yeah," said Taniguchi. "When you put it that way, you make it sound like that's a bad thing. I'm just saying you have your preferences, and I have mine, why do you care? Anyways, we don't know anything about her personality or anything at all of her except that she reject—"

"Didn't Tenjoin-kun go with them?" Reizo interrupted.

That just made something within Taniguchi snap.

"Say what?" exclaimed Tenjoin. "That lucky son of a—"

Reizo smirked in amusement and interrupted Taniguchi, "What's her rank?"

Taniguchi closed his eyes and started off his ranking.

"Asuka Tenjoin-kun outshines every girl I just mentioned," said Taniguchi. "First off, she's beautiful! She very nice and smart…and she has a _great_ figure, unlike that mystery girl. In short, Tenjoin-kun's an AAA rank!"

Reizo nodded in conception.

"I have to agree with you on that," said Reizo. "Too bad Ayanokouji-san said she's not interested in getting into a relationship. And we all know how all the girls love him."

Taniguchi nodded.

"True, true, true," said Taniguchi. "So…you want to follow them?"

Reizo shook his head.

"No, let's not," said Reizo. "Let's go back to the dorm, maybe if we're lucky, we'll get to meet the mystery girl."

* * *

Meanwhile,

"Let go of me, damn it!" snapped Jaden. _"I heavily question why we haven't been stopped yet!"_

Junko and Momoe continued to drag Jaden into the Obelisk Blue dorms. Junko, Momoe and Asuka couldn't help but question to how they haven't been discovered, the same went for Jaden. Jaden wasn't exactly quiet and her voice happened to echo down the hall, so why haven't they—

"What's going on?" asked someone.

Junko and Momoe froze as they slowly turned their heads back. Asuka looked back and blinked as she saw that it was just the Obelisk Blue girls' dormitory leader, Emi Ayukawa. Ayukawa looked questioningly at the group of girls and immediately focused her gaze on Jaden.

"What are you girls doing with Jaden-kun?" asked Ayukawa.

Jaden's heart leapt with joy as maybe there was some way out of this…and her world came crashing down as Ayukawa continued on.

"If you're going to drag her, at least do it carefully," said Ayukawa. "She just got into a fight with a few male Obelisk Blue students and took a small beating from them yesterday. And I just finished taking off the bandages from when she fell into that thorn bush an hour ago!"

Junko, Momoe, and Asuka looked at Jaden with wide-eyes in shock. They were _so_ going to have a talk with her, but first, to Asuka's room! Junko and Momoe lifted Jaden off the ground and continued to drag her down the hall at a quicker pace. Asuka turned to Ayukawa, whom held up her hand.

"It's okay, I know," said Ayukawa. "Daitokuji told me, so you can run along and have your girls' day out."

Asuka nodded and ran down the hall after her friends. Why she ran…well, she wanted half of Jaden's Gold Egg Bread and the quicker she and her roommates got the Osiris Red in a custom made Obelisk Blue uniform, the quicker she could get that half!

And so began the condemnation of Jaden Yuki…oh, what fun shall Junko and Momoe have with their gender-mistaken Osiris Red friend!

* * *

A/N End of chapter and this was supposed to have been updated five days ago, but I got sidetracked. I only got one word to say…Vocaloid…specifically, Magnet! Anyways, this chapter was kinda hard for me to type since I was bored and Jaden was only supposed to have gotten punched in the stomach but…yeah, let's not talk about that! Let's get on with the little notes so I can give a shout out to my reviewers who helped me! Also, Asuka is kinda tsundere when it comes to the Golden Egg Bread (it's bread-pan, whatever! It's the same thing!) And Midori and Kouyou are from the _Yu-Gi-Oh GX _manga, so read it if your want to know about them, or as Luka told Gakupo when he asked her a question, "Go Google it!"

(1) Don't know what that word is! I don't even know if it's spelled right since the person who subbed the video didn't know either, hence the '?' at the end of the sentence.

(2) I wasn't just gonna let the guy go nameless! I'm too lazy to refer to him as a nameless Obelisk Blue, so I looked up and gave him and his name. All the credit for the name 'Shuichi' goes to my good friend and reviewer, **Luving Randomness**—HIII! Anyways, here's the name list.

Shuichi: Means one lord and I thought it fitted because he was the leader of the group.

Shigeru: Means luxuriant and we all know how some Obelisk Blues have a superiority-complex…

Tadao: It means loyal man and it fits because he was the first to defend Shuichi when Jaden tripped and insulted him.

Jin: It means gold and I was running out of names, so I chose that!

(3) After realizing that Jaden could have won in the anime by just using Thunder Giant on King Goblin, I just had to do it! I wanted this duel over so I could get this chapter up already!

(4) Credit goes to _Luving Randomness_ again for that since she knows that Hayato would SO say that! XD

(5) Same thing as (1).

And after reading reviews and getting some names with the help of **Yuri n' Chuka** and **Luving Randomness**…may I present to you, our comic relief guys!

Reizo Fuwa: First name means cool, calm, and well-groomed and we all know how that fits! Anyways, credit goes to **Yuri n' Chuka** who took the time to look for some names and gave them to me…and also a virtual watermelon! The Narrator is pleased…and so am I since we're both sharing a watermelon—never mind, he ate it all. Stingy…ah, I still got chocolate! Anyways, after me and **Luving Randomness** discussed some things, we decided on Reizo's surname as Fuwa since his personality fits Shotaro Fuwa from _Skip Beat_! Well, not right now it doesn't much because he's missing the arrogant part and some other things, but he thinks he's superior over anyone not in Obelisk Blue.

Taniguchi Morioka: First name and the 'rating girls on appearance' habit came off the same exact character with the same name in the _Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya_…like hell I was going to give up this reference! I love that series and its genderbending version! Kyonko and Haruki FTW! As for the surname…got it off the werewolf guy from _Rosario + Vampire_, you know! Ginei Morioka!

Anyways, me and **Luving Randomness** agreed on it and as for the ranks I gave Junko and Momoe…I flipped a coin and counted how many times I got it before I gave Junko and Momoe their official rankings (in this story!).

Momoe was the first to get two A+'s and had three A-'s while Junko had one A+ and four A-'s…you can see how I decided who was an A+ and who was an A-…as for Asuka…dude! It's obviously going to be an AAA rank!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and sorry if anyone was OOC! Remember my excuse! Comic relief! Hope this chapter didn't suck and I'm keeping an eye on you, **A Neverending Dream of Flight** for picking out the mistakes I made! Thanks for being such a good helper!

And remember! NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is a yes and reviews are what keep me from giving up! Er, actually, they just make me happy and keep me from getting writer's block (which I probably won't get with this plot bunny, here…). And if you want to know when the next chapter's going to be up…gugure kasu! And for those of you who have never heard the term, it was on Luka and Gakupo's _Go Google It_ duet! If you don't know what it means…don't ask! I'm either being random, or serious! Until then, wait patiently! And if you hadn't figured it out...the girls' day out chapter won!


	14. Turn 14

Chapter Fourteen

When She Was Dragged Into This…

It was black and lacey…with a pink trim.

That was the only thing in Jaden's mind as she stared at the garment she held up in front of herself with the tips of her fingers. Her face contorted into one of disgust as she glared at the offending object in her possession. Being dragged into Asuka's room was one thing; having this, this, _thing_… shoved into her hands was another. Of course the next words out of her mouth would've been:

"What the hell is this?" asked Jaden.

Junko placed her hand on Jaden's shoulder as she grinned at the Osiris Red's confusion.

"That…is called a bra," said Junko. "You wear it to support your—"

Jaden diverted her chocolate brown eyes on Junko.

"I know very well what a bra is, Junko!" snapped Jaden. "I meant, what the hell is this doing in my hands?"

Jaden's eyes widened as Junko patted her chest once and grinned at the Osiris Red slyly. Jaden immediately distanced herself away from the rufous-haired Obelisk Blue and hid behind Asuka.

"Well, you see, Jaden-kun," said Junko. "That…is your new best friend: the padded bra."

Jaden looked perplexed at Junko.

"A padded wha?" asked Jaden. "Gyaah!"

Jaden shrieked and dropped the black and pink lacey garment in her hands onto the ground as Momoe lifted up her black shirt. The Osiris Red immediately reacted to this by moving her hands down onto her shirt and pushing it down. However, it was too late, for Junko and Momoe had already seen everything.

"You'll never get any guys with that unsexy sports bra you're wearing making your chest seem even flatter," Junko stated as she picked up the lacey garment on the ground. "And _this_ will help you with your flat-chested problem by adding some volume."

Momoe nodded her head in agreement to Junko's remark. Jaden looked down at her chest and stared at it for a few moments before patting it. Once again, coming to a realization, Jaden's face burned red as she bared her teeth at Asuka's roommates in anger and embarrassment.

"S-S-Shut up!" snapped Jaden. "Who said I wanted a guy? And why do you care if I'm a little underdeveloped?"

"Little?" Junko scoffed as she held up the lacey bra. "I had to get this padded bra custom-tailored because this design didn't come below an A-cup!"

Jaden scowled at Junko.

"Are you implying something?" asked Jaden.

"Jaden-kun," said Junko. "You are as flat as a 10 year-old boy, you _look_ like a 12 year-old boy in that uniform, and your personality confirms your boyish appearance! Aren't you at least one bit concerned about that?"

Jaden yawned loudly, tears welding up in her eyes as she shut them and opened her mouth wide to inhale deeply. This action annoyed Junko to no end because this just meant Jaden wasn't getting her point. A yellow gleam shone in the rufous-haired Obelisk Blue's eyes.

"That's it…take it off," said Junko.

Jaden's eyes snapped wide-open at that request and covered her chest with her arms.

"No!" snapped Jaden.

Asuka sighed and held out the bento (A/N AKA, boxed lunch for those of you who haven't read manga and such!) she held in her arms along with the Golden Egg Bread package.

"Unless you don't want this, then you'll have to comply," said Asuka.

Jaden's eyes turned huge and shone with unshed tears.

"Do I have to?" wailed Jaden.

Asuka nodded her head, earning a depressed moan from the Osiris Red. Jaden closed her eyes and reluctantly started to take off her red jacket. Junko and Momoe looked at each other and smiled while Asuka just sighed and shook her head.

A few moments later,

Asuka walked back into her room carrying an additional three bentos on top of Jaden's with the Golden Egg Bread at the top of the stack. While Jaden got hers handmade by Tome, three of the bentos Asuka carried were made by herself, Momoe, and Junko. They even got up earlier this morning for this exact occasion, just so they could have lunch with their Osiris Red friend.

Anyways, when the aforementioned dark-blonde Obelisk Blue walked into the room, she just about _almost_ dropped the bento boxes she carried when she caught a glimpse of Jaden. Not only did Jaden wear the custom-made uniform Momoe got her, but the measurements to said garment was _disturbingly_ the ideal fit for her figure. And that wasn't just it…right on Asuka's bed sat the two aforementioned girls, one of which was currently looking down in misery with closed eyes as tears streamed down her cheeks like waterfalls.

Jaden wasn't one happy girl…heck, she was miserable, somewhat stressed out, and mostly disturbed! There was one thing that made the Osiris Red yell out in shock in her thoughts.

"_How the hell did Junko _know_ my __**cup-size**__?"_ thought Jaden.

The black and pink lacey undergarment Jaden was currently wearing under the Obelisk Blue female uniform's top was a _perfect_ fit. And the padding added just enough volume to give the poorly-endowed Osiris Red's chest a fuller shape. Although not as big as her Obelisk Blue friends' (they were nowhere near close to that range!), it was a remarkable difference that suited her slender body with its narrow hips.

Momoe was currently brushing Jaden's hair to keep it down or at _least_ attempt it while said Osiris Red girl was questioning Junko's accuracy to her poorly-endowed chest. It was only until the gender-mistaken girl remembered what happened a few days ago that might have explained the accurate bra measurement when the top half of her face turned blue.

"_That's right…the bathhouse,"_ thought Jaden.

The slightest mention or thought to that memory made Jaden shudder. When she had made that mental note about Junko, she was being serious. If the rufous-haired Obelisk Blue gotten an accurate measurement just from coming in contact with Jaden's chest, then said Osiris Red girl didn't want to know (and by 'know', she meant _remember_) how she got the rest of the measurements.

Speaking of Junko…the rufous-haired Obelisk Blue, herself, was watching Momoe brush Jaden's hair. Junko was currently keeping an eye out for anything on Jaden that she could fix…like the manner the Osiris Red was sitting could use some improvising! And this rufous-haired girl knew how to fix it!

"Jaden-kun, when you sit like that…" said Junko. "Everyone can see your panties."

Jaden's face turned red as her hands immediately went to her skirt and pushed it down. Junko laughed at the Osiris Red's reaction, earning herself a death glare from said gender-mistaken girl.

"I hate you all…" said Jaden. "Except for you, Asuka! You're still on my side, right?"

Asuka waved her hand at Jaden as she looked through her drawers after placing the bento boxes down on the dresser. A few moments later, Jaden _almost_ squealed in delight when Asuka presented her with a pair of black shorts. Junko and Momoe were about to protest, but they stopped when the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue gave them a certain look.

Sometime later on the Main Campus,

Junko, Momoe, Asuka, and Jaden all sat together on a bench under a shady tree. A gentle breeze was picking up, but Jaden didn't seem to notice as she was too busy tearing the Golden Egg Bread in half. Once she was done, she gave the unbitten half of the bread to Asuka, who calmly accepted it.

"About time I get to have my Golden Egg Bread!" Jaden exclaimed happily.

Junko narrowed her eyes at Jaden as the Osiris Red took a big bite out of her respective Golden Egg Bread. Momoe stared at Jaden as she opened her own bento box while Asuka calmly, though inwardly delighted, began to eat her Golden Egg Bread half.

"Is food the only thing you ever think of?" asked Junko.

Jaden diverted her chocolate brown eyes on Junko as she chewed.

"No, sometimes I think about dueling," Jaden said before swallowing. "Other times I think about how my friend is doing…and most of the time I think about how I'm going to beat Red the Ultimate Trainer!"

Junko, Momoe, and Asuka sweat dropped and simultaneously asked, "Who?"

As Jaden began her explanation while she and the three girls began to have their lunch, unbeknownst to all of them, the girls were being watched…hell! They were being followed from the moment they left Obelisk Blue campus! By whom, you ask? None other than the guys Jaden encountered at the Drawbread cart and a few days ago!

Taniguchi kept his grip on Reizo as he tried to keep his friend from rushing towards the girl they've dubbed 'Mystery Girl'. Very original, ne? Note the sarcasm, but that's not the point. What it really was…was Reizo had just barely recognized her, what, with the slightly different look she had and all.

Unlike last time, this girl actually had a decent bust size to fit her figure, her uniform fit was flawless, and the part of her hair that spiked up slightly in the back was combed down. The changes were both slight, yet noticeable and rather appearance changing. The only thing on Reizo's mind was one thing.

"_I must ask for her name!"_ thought Reizo.

Which is what brought Taniguchi back to what he was doing, preventing his friend, Reizo, from making a fool out of himself like last time and getting rejected by the same girl. After a few moments of this, Taniguchi managed to drag his friend to a close by, but out of view range from on top of the second-floor outside corridor on the Main Academy Building. Both Obelisk Blues were now watching the girls talk as they ate their lunches.

"She looks different," Taniguchi said, breaking the silence.

Reizo, leaning on the rail, turned his head towards Taniguchi.

"And you say that now, why?" asked Reizo.

Taniguchi ignored him and continued on.

"She's certainly sporting a different bust size," said Taniguchi. "Probably wearing a padded bra, although it is a better look than how she was before."

Reizo narrowed his eyes at Taniguchi.

"Is bust size the first thing you notice in a girl?" asked Reizo.

Taniguchi shook his head.

"Nah, I'm just pointing it out," said Taniguchi. "Besides, you've also noticed that, too…am I right?"

Reizo closed his eyes and turned his head away from the black-haired Obelisk Blue, a slight blush tingeing his cheeks.

"Shut up!" snapped Reizo.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Taniguchi was right. Taniguchi grinned and focused his gaze back on the girl. He scratched the back of his head in thought as he looked over the mysterious Obelisk Blue girl, who was currently finishing the last of her bread before reaching for her bento, which compared to Momoe and Junko's bentos, was bigger and slightly bigger when compared to Asuka's average sized bento.

"Well, she certainly likes to eat," said Taniguchi. "And by the way she wears those shorts with that skirt and the manner she's sitting in along with her reaction to your flirting a few days ago…Reizo-san; I think your mystery girl might be a tomboy."

Reizo looked at the mystery girl as she opened up her bento and picked up her chopsticks. He found it rather cute how she immediately dove into her lunch and didn't care about the looks her friends gave her. And the manner she ate her shrimp in was so adorable—that was it! He couldn't wait any longer…he _had_ to know her name.

Taniguchi turned to his friend as the dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue turned and started to walk away. After a few seconds of stuttering and hesitating, the black-haired boy trailed after Reizo.

* * *

Meanwhile back with the girls,

Jaden was enjoying every bite of the bento Tome made for her. She was also ignoring every stare Junko and Momoe gave her as she continued eating. Asuka was currently in the middle of eating her own bento, having decided to leave the rest of her Golden Egg Bread for last. After a few moments of this, Asuka stopped what she was doing and sighed.

"Quit staring at her," said Asuka.

Junko and Momoe jolted in their seats and diverted their attention to their small bentos, which were empty as they had already finished eating. Jaden, having heard Asuka, turned to the Obelisk Blues who were staring at her. Their bentos caught her attention and popped up a question in mind.

"Why are your bentos small?" asked Jaden.

Both Junko and Momoe blushed at hearing Jaden's question about their bentos' size. It was kind of personal to the two girls and Asuka knew the reason why, but just stayed silent as she continued eating. Jaden looked completely oblivious to how her innocent question caused such an impact on the two Obelisk Blue girls.

After a few moments of an awkward silence between her roommates and the Osiris Red girl, Asuka placed down her chopstick into her bento box and sighed.

"They're on a diet, Jaden," said Asuka.

Asuka ignored her friends' red, yet angry faces as Jaden tilted her head to the side.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "What's wrong with how they look?"

Asuka shook her head and said, "They're trying to keep their figures…"

Jaden scratched the back of her head in thought.

"That's stupid," said Jaden. "You guys shouldn't worry about that! Who cares how you look? I think you're fine as it is!"

Junko and Momoe looked at Jaden as she went back to eating her fried shrimp. After a few moments of thinking, they came to a conclusion to which Jaden was right and since it was _her_ who was worried about them…

"You're right!" said Junko.

Jaden looked at Junko and Momoe, a fried shrimp partially in her mouth and partially hanging out as she chewed slowly in thought.

"I am?" Jaden said in a muffled, though audible voice.

Momoe nodded.

"Yes, Jaden-kun!" said Momoe.

Jaden blinked a few times and smiled as she closed her eyes while she chewed on her fried shrimp before swallowing.

"And I'll take that!" said Junko.

Jaden opened her eyes and watched with a clueless expression as Junko used her own chopsticks to snatch away one of the halved soft boiled eggs from Jaden's bento. After seeing the rufous-haired girl eat the half, Jaden narrowed her eyes.

"Hey!" said Jaden. "That's mine!"

Junko grinned at Jaden as the Osiris Red glared at her. Momoe picked up her chopsticks and held up her finger.

"Well, you were worried about us, so we're eating," said Momoe.

As if to prove her point, Momoe snatched herself a bite from Jaden's bento with her chopsticks. Jaden grabbed her bento and shielded it from the clutches of Junko and Momoe.

"When I said you should eat more, I didn't say eat _my_ food!" snapped Jaden.

While Jaden was busy keeping her bento away from Junko and Momoe, she failed to notice Asuka's chopsticks until they grabbed a fried shrimp.

"Oh, come on, Jaden," said Asuka. "All this over food…"

Jaden turned her head to Asuka as the dark-blonde placed a fried shrimp in her mouth. The Osiris Red scowled at her as she chewed on the fried shrimp.

"By the way, Tome-san makes delicious fried shrimp," said Asuka.

Jaden frowned.

"Hey!" whined Jaden. "That was also mine! Hey!"

Jaden swatted away Junko's chopsticks with her own ones as the rufous-haired girl attempted to steal another bite from her bento. She did the same to Momoe and continued doing it to both girls until they tried to snatch a fried shrimp. It was there where Jaden _literally_ growled and bared her teeth at them, slightly intimidating the Obelisk Blue girls, though also amusing them as well.

Five minutes later of excessive bento snatch-attempting,

Jaden held her chopsticks in hand, ready for any of Junko and Momoe's attempts to steal food from her bento.

"C'mon!" said Jaden. "Quit it!"

Junko crossed her arms and looked at Jaden.

"You shared half your bread with Asuka-san, why not share some of your lunch with us?" asked Junko.

Momoe closed her eyes and clasped her hands together.

"Please, Jaden-kun!" pleaded Momoe.

Jaden looked nervously at Junko and Momoe as they gave her a pleading look. She turned to Asuka, who just continued eating her own lunch.

"Don't include me into this," Asuka said before placing a mouthful of rice into her mouth with her chopsticks.

Jaden sighed and after a full five minutes of receiving pleading stares from Junko and Momoe, she gave in. She unshielded her bento and held it out to the Obelisk Blue girls.

"Fine…" Jaden said, immediately swatting away Junko's hand from the fried shrimp. "But the fried shrimp are mine!"

Junko and Momoe nodded and both said, "Deal!"

Asuka shook her head and sighed as her friends shared a bento.

"You guys can be so immature sometimes…" Asuka said before placing another mouthful of rice into her mouth.

Junko, Momoe, and Jaden all turned to Asuka, each girl sporting a piece egg, mouthful of rice, and fried shrimp (respectively) in their mouth. After a few seconds of chewing, the girls narrowed their eyes at the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue.

"Like you're one to talk," Jaden said as she chewed on her fried shrimp.

Junko and Momoe couldn't agree more as they nodded. Asuka looked at her friends as she chewed and swallowed.

"What are you talking about?" asked Asuka.

Jaden gave her bento to Junko and Momoe before standing up from her seat. Asuka placed a small tomato in her mouth. Suddenly, Jaden snatched her Golden Egg Bread half from her bento. This got Asuka's full attention as she watched the Osiris Red girl grin and distance herself from the dark-blonde.

"Hey!" said Asuka.

Asuka placed her bento down and immediately trailed after Jaden as the dual-colored brunette began to play keep-away with the dark-blonde's bread. Junko and Momoe watched as their friends acted like a couple of kids while they shared a bento, making sure to stay away from the fried shrimp. Seeing Asuka overreact for half of a Golden Egg Bread was rather amusing…especially since the majority of the people on campus were watching her and Jaden run about. A group of Obelisk Blue male students found this both amusing and enjoyable since they were looking over the girls as they ran by.

Junko and Momoe noticed the Obelisk Blues' looks at their friends and both smirked. Momoe laid down her chopsticks and cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Asuka-san!" Momoe called out. "I think those boys are checking you two out!"

As if to confirm Momoe's assumption, one of the Obelisk Blue boys wolf-whistled at Asuka as she wrapped her arms around Jaden's waist after cornering the gender-mistaken girl. Asuka was currently reaching for the Golden Egg Bread in Jaden's hand as said girl continued to give the dark-blonde a hard time grabbing it when both of them heard the whistle. Jaden, having never been whistled at, blinked owlishly while Asuka's face burned red as she immediately let go of the Osiris Red girl.

Jaden noticed Asuka's red face and glared at the Obelisk Blue who had the nerve to whistle at them.

"Shut up!" snapped Jaden.

Asuka looked at Jaden and scowled as she remembered what they were doing. Junko and Momoe laughed and pointed at Jaden as they both shouted, "She said it!" (1)

Jaden flinched as she saw the looked on the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue's face. She immediately distanced herself before breaking into a run, to which Asuka trailed after her.

"Get back here!" yelled Asuka.

Jaden looked over her shoulder at Asuka and stuck out her tongue as she pulled down her eyelid. Asuka clenched her teeth as her eyes flared with anger.

"Why you—!" said Asuka.

Jaden closed her eyes and laughed at the dark-blonde's reaction to the face she gave her. Due to this, Jaden wasn't looking where she was going and didn't notice the Obelisk Blue student in front of her until she bumped into him. She yelped and tried to regain her balance, having lost it from bumping into the student who stood in front of her. Thankfully, the Obelisk Blue helped her out by grabbing a hold of both her arms with his hands before she fell back.

"Easy there!" said the Obelisk Blue.

Jaden looked down as she inhaled deeply before exhaling.

"Thanks!" said Jaden.

The Obelisk Blue blinked and looked over Jaden, smiling afterwards.

"No problem…" said the dark-brown haired boy. "Heh, didn't expect to meet you again like this."

Jaden's eyes widened as she froze still. Slowly, she looked up to see the boy who had kept her from falling down. After she got a good look at his face, Jaden pushed herself away from the Obelisk Blue and ran towards the bench she was sitting earlier on before playing keep-away with Asuka's bread. Asuka stopped as the dual-colored brunette ran past her and grabbed onto her wrist, dragging the dark-blonde along.

"Hey!" said Asuka.

Jaden didn't look back and just kept running as she dragged Asuka.

"Shut up and keep running!" snapped Jaden.

Asuka looked questioningly at Jaden as the gender-mistaken girl dragged her all the way back to the bench Junko and Momoe were sitting at with their bentos. The Obelisk Blue girls looked questioningly at their Osiris Red friend as she immediately began to pack up the bentos and stack them. Junko, Momoe, and Asuka looked at each other before Momoe finally spoke.

"What's wrong, Jaden-kun?" asked Momoe.

"We gotta go, now!" said Jaden.

Jaden gave Asuka back her Golden Egg Bread before going back for the stacked bento boxes. Junko looked perplexed at the Osiris Red girl as she handed her the stacked boxes.

"There's this guy I don't really want to see, so can we go now?" asked Jaden. "I don't care where, let's just go before—"

"Oi!" someone called out.

Jaden cringed, earning her a few strange looks from Asuka, Junko, and Momoe. Momoe turned her head away as she searched for the person who called out and spotted a dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue boy running towards them. Following after him, was a black-haired boy, also an Obelisk Blue student.

"Crap…help me!" Jaden cried as she jumped into the bushes surrounding the tree they sat under.

Asuka, Momoe, and Junko all stared at the bushed where Jaden resided in.

"How?" asked Junko.

Jaden carefully peered out of the bush as she looked at the Obelisk Blue girls.

"Just say something!" said Jaden. "Tell him I'm not here! And whatever you do, don't tell him my name!"

Junko blinked a few times before turning to the two Obelisk Blue boys who were running towards them. After a few seconds of quick thinking, the rufous-haired girl quickly placed the stacked bento boxes on the bench to help Jaden, whom whispered out a quiet, but audible, "Thanks!"

Junko was about to nod, but quickly placed her hands in her lap as the Obelisk Blue boys ran up to her, Momoe, and Asuka. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she cautiously looked out.

Taniguchi tried to catch his breath as he placed his hand on Reizo's shoulder.

"Reizo-san…what's…wrong?" Taniguchi gasped out.

Reizo looked around at the three Obelisk Blue girls in front of him, whom he immediately recognized as Junko Makurada, Momoe Hamaguchi, and Asuka Tenjoin. However, they weren't who he was searching for…sighing, he decided to do the next best thing.

"Hey, have any of you seen an Obelisk Blue girl?" asked Reizo.

Momoe was about to answer, but Junko quickly silenced her by elbowing the raven-haired girl in the side. Momoe glared at Junko, whom gave her a certain look that made both of them quickly turn back to Reizo. Junko cleared her throat and looked at Reizo with a serious expression.

"You're going to have to be more specific since we're all girls," said Junko. "Unless you don't think we're girls…"

Momoe caught on decided to play along as she crossed her arms and turned away, wearing a miffed expression.

"Well I never!" said Momoe.

Asuka got the hint her friends were trying to do and decided to join in by placing her hands on her hips.

"My femininity was just ignored," said Asuka. "I feel highly insulted."

This got Reizo nervous as he stared awkwardly at the three girls he unintentionally 'insulted'. Junko, Momoe, and Asuka all grinned inwardly as Jaden, in the bushes, covered her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

"Oh, my bad, ladies…" said Reizo. "Didn't know my reckless words would—"

Junko waved her hand as she looked away from Reizo.

"Yeah, yeah," said Junko. "Too late for sucking up, big boy, so please do us a favor and leave us alone…okay?"

Reizo was speechless as stuttered while Taniguchi sniggered at Junko's remark and his friend's reaction to it. Junko looked at the dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue with a satisfied smile as Momoe giggled and Asuka laughed quietly. Jaden peeked through the leaves of the bush as she stared at Reizo as he stammered. Without thinking, Jaden snorted loudly at the sight, to which she immediately clamped her hands over her traitorous mouth. It was too late, though.

Junko, Momoe, and Asuka all froze as their expressions grew nervous. Reizo had stopped his stammering as he glanced around sharply at the sound. Jaden held her breath as she covered her mouth.

"_Please, please…don't __**find**__ me!"_ thought Jaden. _"Need…air…"_

Luckily for Jaden's lungs, Reizo looked away and shook his head. The gender-mistaken girl exhaled before inhaling deeply. Junko, Momoe, and Asuka all mushroom sighed before going back to their calm composure.

"Anyways, have you seen a cute brunette with short hair?" asked Reizo.

Junko and Momoe shook their heads and waved their hands.

"No, no, no, we haven't!" they both said.

Asuka closed her eyes as she crossed her arms, face-palming mentally

"_She's doom…unless this guy's an idiot,"_ thought Asuka.

Jaden held her breath again as Reizo walked close to the bushes. Junko and Momoe froze as they nervously watched the dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue walk closer to their friend's nearby hiding spot. Taniguchi sighed and rubbed the back of his head, finding this rather pointless seeing as they weren't getting any answers.

"Let's just go, Reizo-san," said Taniguchi. "She's not here."

Reizo stopped in his tracks in front of the bush where Jaden hid. Jaden held her breath as her heart pounded in her chest from the suspense. Reizo turned around and closed his eyes, sighing afterwards.

"I guess you're right," said Reizo.

Reizo slowly began to walk away from Jaden, to who immediately exhaled in relief. If this kept up, it was going to become hazardous to her lungs' health.

"_That was close…"_ thought Jaden.

However, Jaden's bubble of relief was burst as Reizo's sudden remark caught her off guard, "Although, I wonder if the girl behind this bush knows where she is!"

The next thing she knew, Jaden was now face to face with Reizo after he used his hands to push away the branches in the bush she hid in.

"Hello, I believe we met a few days ago?" asked Reizo. "Remember me? I'm the guy you kicked down…"

Jaden's eyes widened as she quickly backed away until her back met with the tree's bark while her hands gripped the ground. Momoe and Junko immediately started to stutter while Taniguchi scratched the side of his head idly as he stared at Jaden.

"Well, what do you know?" said Taniguchi. "She was here all along."

Reizo smirked as he saw the girl's nervous expression as she stared at him. He finally found her…

"And I'm also the guy who kept you from falling down just a few moments ago," said Reizo. "So, how long have you been in there?"

Jaden stared nervously at Reizo as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. She swallowed hard before managing to talk.

"Um…Go Google it?" said Jaden.

Asuka shook her head and sighed at her friend's random answer. Though it did made sense in a manner, this moment did not fit the criteria for it to work well. So that very much explained the perplexed look Reizo gave the gender-mistaken girl.

"Okay…well, that doesn't matter," said Reizo. "That's not what I'm here for…"

Momoe looked questioningly at Reizo.

"Then what are you here for?" asked Momoe. "Ja—"

Junko elbowed Momoe in the side to keep her from saying out the Osiris Red's name. Momoe yelped and glared at Junko as she rubbed the side of her head. Junko whispered into the raven-haired girl's ear.

"Jaden-kun told me not to let him know her name," whispered Junko.

Momoe's mouth opened wide as she let out an 'ohh'. Jaden silently thanked Junko in thought as Reizo kept his gaze on the dual-colored brunette.

"I've been wanting to ask you this from the moment I first saw you," said Reizo. "What's your name?"

Jaden's eyes widened as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. She was screwed…so very screwed…figuratively, of course, but that's not the point! She was still screwed unless she thought of something fast, like…now!

"Um…uh…" Jaden stuttered. _"Think of something quick, Yuki-kun! Saying it's 'Jaden' is not an option! Hmm…that's it!"_

Jaden cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her head.

"It's Judai," said Jaden. (2)

Junko and Momoe stared at Jaden strangely as they both thought, _"Teenager?"_

Asuka, currently eating her Golden Egg Bread half, chewed slowly in thought as she nodded.

"_Makes sense, though a little ironic coming from her…"_ thought Asuka. _"Though, all this for just a name…Honestly, a guy could do better than that!"_

Jaden pulled herself up as she leaned back against the tree while she stared at Reizo.

"_C'mon, this better work!"_ thought Jaden.

Reizo smiled at Jaden and walked over to her.

"Okay, Judai-chan, I'm Reizo Fuwa—" Reizo was cut off as the next thing he knew, Jaden, or _Judai_…was holding him up by the collar of his shirt.

"If you value your life, you better drop the 'chan'!" Judai said darkly. "There are only a select few people who can refer to me as 'chan' and you're not one of them!"

Taniguchi nodded as he observed Jaden's actions slowly.

"A feisty tomboy who can fight…very interesting," Taniguchi said to himself. _"That ups you up from an A to an __**A+**__."_

Reizo held his hands up in his defense as Jaden held her fist up to his face.

"Okay, okay!" said Reizo. "Anyways, I'm Reizo Fuwa and that guy over there is my friend, Taniguchi Morioka."

Judai turned to Taniguchi, who waved at her.

"Yo!" said Taniguchi.

Judai narrowed her eyes at the black-haired boy before turning her gaze back on Reizo as she bared her teeth at him. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his head before Asuka turned her head to Judai and got up from her seat.

"Put the boy down, Judai," said Asuka. "Momoe, Junko, Judai…we should get going if you want start that movie marathon we had planned out."

Junko and Momoe jolted in their seat and stood up. After remembering what they had planned out for today, the eager Obelisk Blue girls wanted to go back to their dorms immediately to initiate everything.

"Um, right!" said Junko.

"We should!" said Momoe. "_Castle in the Sky_, here we come!"

Junko arched her eyebrow at Momoe.

"'_Castle in the Sky_'?" repeated Junko. "Screw that! We're watching _Princess Mononoke_ first!"

A few seconds later, Jaden (back at her real name) found herself being picked up off the ground in a certain twin-like manner, however, unlike last time, she was rather glad as Momoe and Junko began to drag her away. Anything was better than staying with…

"_What's his name…Reizo?" _thought Jaden. _"Whatever! I just want to get away from him…_Princess Mononoke_? Sounds interesting…I wanna see it!"_

Asuka picked up the bento box stack after wrapping up her bread half and placing it on top of the stack. Reizo and Taniguchi stared at Junko and Momoe as they dragged away Judai. Reizo turned to Asuka as she started to follow after her friends.

"Oi, Tenjoin-kun!" said Reizo.

Asuka stopped and looked over her shoulder at the dark-brown haired boy.

"What is it, Fuwa-kun?" asked Asuka.

Reizo scratched the back of his head.

"What are you girls doing?" asked Reizo.

Asuka blinked and grinned inwardly as she turned her head away from Reizo.

"Well, Fuwa-kun, I didn't think you'd be the nosy type…" said Asuka. "Especially since this is a girls' thing we're doing…"

Reizo stuttered, causing Asuka to laugh a bit.

"Fine," said Asuka. "We're going to teach our friend, Judai, about make-up. You see, she has no clue when it comes to being feminine, so we're going to help her a bit…or at least attempt to. Well, see you around…or not. Bye."

Asuka waved at Reizo before she went back to trailing after her friends. Reizo stared at Asuka as she walked away, not noticing Taniguchi until he placed his arm around his shoulders.

"Well, looks like your girl _is_ a tomboy," said Taniguchi.

Reizo diverted his eyes on Taniguchi.

"So?" said Reizo. "At least I finally know her name…"

Taniguchi held up his finger.

"And it means 'teenager'," said Taniguchi. "She's a feisty tomboy who can fight…"

Reizo narrowed his eyes.

"And I care why?" asked Reizo.

Taniguchi wagged his finger at Reizo as he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Tsk, tsk, Reizo-san," Taniguchi replied. "Your girl just got a _lot_ more interesting…she went up from an A to an _A+_ and she's close to being an AA!"

Reizo glared at Taniguchi before pulling the black-haired boy into a headlock.

"You better stay away from her!" said Reizo. "I saw her first!"

Taniguchi tried to pull Reizo's arm off of his neck.

"She bumped into _me_!" retorted Taniguchi.

Reizo tightened his hold on Taniguchi, causing the black-haired Obelisk Blue to struggle a bit more.

"Yeah, but _I_ asked for her name!" Reizo snapped back.

Taniguchi bit down on Reizo's arm, causing the dark-brown haired boy to yelp and let go of his hold on him. Taniguchi shoved Reizo back.

"She rejected you!" exclaimed Taniguchi.

Reizo rubbed his arm where Taniguchi bit him before pushing said boy back. And so began the argument over who got first calls to courting the Obelisk Blue girl that was Judai.

* * *

Sometime later in the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm,

Jaden sat on the floor cross-legged with her eyes open as Junko applied mascara onto her eyelashes. Jaden fidgeted in her spot as Momoe went back to brushing her hair again after it decided to spike up again. Momoe didn't care, she rather liked Jaden's hair, it was soft and surprisingly, the color was natural…though, she still questioned if it was.

"Are you sure this is your natural hair color?" asked Momoe.

Jaden blinked.

"If you want proof, ask my dad!" said Jaden.

Junko scowled as Jaden blinked again.

"Stay still and don't blink!" said Junko. "We're almost done, here…"

Momoe set down the brush and looked at Jaden's face as Junko continued to apply the mascara. Momoe reached over to the make-up kit that was laid on the floor a few inches away from them. She looked into the kit as she moved her hand around, searching through the small, cylindrical glass cases that held different colored powers inside.

"How about some eye shadow?" she suggested, holding up a few different colored cakes and a small brush in her hands.

Asuka sat on her bed with one leg crossed over the other, watching over her friends to make sure they didn't over do it on Jaden. Hearing Momoe, the dark-blonde decided to state out her opinion.

"I think the natural look is better," said Asuka.

Momoe blinked and looked over Jaden as Junko placed down the mascara container after placing the applicator stick back into the tube.

"Really?" said Momoe. "Hmm…I guess you're right."

Junko looked over in the make-up kit and took out a small case with a rosy-colored powder inside. She picked up a brush and opened the case to dab it over the rosy-colored powder.

"Okay, Jaden-kun…smile!" said Junko.

Jaden blinked and forced herself to smile as Junko lightly moved the brush over her cheeks. Momoe picked up a cylindrical glass bottle that held a pink liquid inside with a from the make-up kit. She unscrewed the top and pulled out the applicator stick.

"Junko-san, move," said Momoe.

Junko nodded and moved the brush over Jaden's cheeks one last time before doing so. Momoe smiled and moved over to where Junko once sat as said girl got up from the floor and walked out of Asuka's room. Jaden blinked as Momoe moved the applicator stick over her lips, rubbing some sort of pink liquid over her lips. After a few moments of this, Momoe placed the applicator stick back into its bottle and screwed it back on.

"Okay, Jaden-kun, I want you to rub your lips together," said Momoe.

Jaden blinked and arched her eyebrow at Momoe.

"Why?" asked Jaden.

"Just do it!" said Momoe.

Jaden blinked and side before she did as she was told. It was there that Junko walked back into the room carrying a few different outfits in her arms.

"So, are we done?" Junko asked as she closed the door.

Asuka looked over Jaden and nodded.

"I say we are," said Asuka.

Junko smiled and immediately dashed over to Jaden to get a good look at the work she and Momoe did to their Osiris Red friend.

"Let me see!" said Junko.

"Hey!" said Momoe. "Don't push!"

Jaden fidgeted in her spot as Momoe and Junko stared at her agape. All she really wanted to do was go back to her dorm and challenge Shou or Hayato to a duel…actually, anything seemed better than this! Hell, even helping out Daitokuji clean out the dishes in the dining hall's kitchen seemed like fun!

"Uh…is something wrong?" asked Jaden.

Asuka looked at Jaden and shook her head.

"No, you're…" said Asuka.

Momoe and Junko finished for Asuka as a blush tinged their cheeks.

"You're stunning!" they both exclaimed.

Jaden blinked owlishly a few times, causing the two girls to squeal at her. The gender-mistaken girl was unaware of how the mascara defined her naturally long and thick black eyelashes and made her chocolate brown eyes stand out or how the lip gloss made her full lips evident by giving it a pink, mildly glossy luster. Mascara and lip gloss combined with lightly applied rouge gave Jaden a natural look that emphasized her most noticeable aspects on her face. Junko and Momoe were pleased with their work, as was Asuka.

"Your eyes really stand out now," said Asuka.

Junko and Momoe nodded as they looked at each other.

"Aren't we brilliant?" asked Momoe.

Junko placed her hands on her hips.

"She was just born gorgeous!" replied Junko.

Jaden blushed slightly as Junko and Momoe continued to stare at her.

"You have pretty face," Momoe complimented. "You really shouldn't cover it up!"

Junko nodded and smiled as she held up a short, red dress decorated with lace and a frilly white apron. Jaden was taken aback with the dress and immediately backed away from Junko and Momoe.

"W-W-What is that?" exclaimed Jaden.

Junko smiled slyly at Jaden as she held out the dress to show.

"It's a maid outfit made especially for you!" said Junko.

Momoe looked over the red maid outfit and clasped her hands together, squealing in delight.

"So cute~!" said Momoe.

Asuka blinked at the frilly outfit Junko held up and looked at Jaden, who was now standing up. Jaden didn't seem too pleased and looked like she was about ready to reach her limits.

And she was! Jaden slowly snuck over to grab her shoes as Junko and Momoe looked over the frilly maid outfit. Asuka was watching Jaden, not bothering to say anything as she was curious to what the Osiris Red had in mind. Jaden picked up her shoes and was about to reach for the doorknob when…

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Junko.

Jaden cringed at the demanding tone in Junko's voice. She slowly turned her head to the rufous-haired girl, who was surprisingly now standing in front of her. Junko had her hands on her hips as she stared at Jaden with a stern expression. Momoe stood behind Junko with her arms crossed.

"Well?" said Momoe.

Jaden blinked a few times before answering, "My room?"

Junko shook her head.

"Oh, no!" said Junko. "We planned this day out from the moment we found out you were a girl!"

Momoe nodded and added, "And we're not just going to let you go that easily, Jaden-kun!"

Jaden gulped and looked over at Asuka, who just shrugged.

"Don't look at me," said Asuka. "I'm an innocent bystander who will say that you can't go out the door."

Jaden blinked and turned the knob, groaning in dismay as she found out it was locked…and just her luck! The Obelisk Blue dorm rooms had doors with keyways so unless she had the key…she was screwed! Jaden turned around and stared at Junko with an anxious expression. The rufous-haired girl smiled smugly as she held up a key in her hand.

"We thought you'd do that, so we decided to think ahead," said Junko.

Momoe nodded and held up her finger.

"So guess who's stuck with us for the rest of the day?" Momoe asked in a sing-song voice.

Jaden gripped the doorknob tightly as she stared anxiously at Momoe and Junko's faces. She looked around the room and spotted the door that led to the balcony across the room. With an idea popping up in mind, Jaden ran past Junko and Momoe, earning perplexed stares from them.

Asuka watched Jaden run over to the balcony door and fumble a bit with the knob before opening it. Junko and Momoe turned to Jaden and stared at the Osiris Red agape as she climbed onto the railing.

"Jaden-kun!" they both exclaimed.

Jaden ignored them as she positioned herself on the other side of the railing. Asuka, Junko, and Momoe rushed over to the Osiris Red to stop her, but it was too late. Jaden had already jumped off the balcony.

The three Obelisk Blue girls watched as the dual-colored brunette landed safely into the lake the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm was built on. They were shocked at Jaden's feat as her head popped out of the water to inhale deeply. Jaden had just jumped off a balcony built on the _second_-floor, the highest floor to the _almost_ three-story tall dorm!

Jaden shook her head and swam towards shore, leaving Junko and Momoe awestruck and shocked. Asuka looked at Jaden as the dual-haired brunette reached the shallow end of the lake and walked out onto land. The Osiris Red shook her head before running into the forest, not once bothering to put on the shoes in her hands or caring about her current wet state.

Asuka looked at her friends and sighed as she looked over the red maid outfit they were going to dress up Jaden in.

"Junko, Momoe," said Asuka. "I said we were going to dress her up, not put her in cosplay."

Junko and Momoe turned to Asuka and pouted at the dark-blonde. Asuka shook her head and walked over to the door.

"You guys overdid it a bit and scared her away," said Asuka.

Junko and Momoe slumped as they sighed in dismay.

"So… what now?" asked Junko.

"She left," said Momoe. "And after all that planning…"

Asuka shook her head and took out a spare key from her pocket. She stuck it into the keyway in the lock and turned it. She looked at her friends as she turned the knob and opened the door.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" asked Asuka. "We got an Osiris Red to catch and I know exactly where she's heading towards."

Junko and Momoe blinked before smiling ecstatically.

* * *

~meanwhile with our drenched escapee~

Jaden ignored the looks given to her from the Obelisk Blue male students she ran past by. She was wet, barefooted, and cold, but that wasn't going to stop her! She wanted to go back to her dorm and to her own room so she could get out of this uniform and wash off the make-up that surprisingly hadn't been washed up from her jump into the lake water.

"Hmph, leave it to Junko and Momoe to have water-proof make-up…" Jaden muttered as she turned a corner, narrowly avoiding two very familiar Obelisk Blue boys who crossed her path.

Reizo and Taniguchi had been walking back to their dorms, the latter rather disappointed in losing to his friend who now had the first call when it came to Judai. And speak of the devil, the girl they had been fighting over earlier had just ran past them in a rather odd condition. She was drenched and barefooted, having been carrying her shoes in her hand. Both boys stopped in their tracks and watched Judai run towards the exit of the Obelisk Blue campus.

Curiosity getting the better of them, Taniguchi and Reizo turned and ran after the drenched Obelisk Blue girl. They wanted to know what was wrong and also…Reizo wanted to know Judai's number and mail.

A few moments later, Jaden noticed that she was being followed…and by the two guys she'd least wanted to see today.

"_Damn…could this get any worse?"_ thought Jaden.

THUD!

Jaden fell back down onto the ground rear-first after bumping into an Obelisk Blue student. Clenching her teeth and growling, Jaden was not pleased…

"Oh, c'mon on!" snapped Jaden. "Is everyone out to get me today?"

The Obelisk Blue student who Jaden bumped into stared at her, somewhat amused, though mostly perplexed. The girl was drenched from head to toe, carried her shoes in hand, and immediately snapped at bumping into someone. That right there wasn't something that happened every day…

Jaden rubbed her backside and blinked as the Obelisk Blue student she bumped into held out his hand to her. She took his hand and was pulled up off the ground before being propped onto the ground in a standing position.

"Thanks," Jaden said as she rubbed the back of her head. "I really have to watch where I'm going…Sorry about bumping into you."

"It's fine," reassured the Obelisk Blue student.

Jaden froze and slowly looked up at the Obelisk Blue student, having been a good amount of height shorter than him. She backed away as she stared at the student with a nervous expression. Of all the guys she had to bump into next, it had to be…

"Kaiser!" exclaimed Jaden.

Ryou arched his brow at the Obelisk Blue girl who stood before him. She was a cute little thing with a pretty face despite the current condition she was in. Though, if memory recalled, a few of the girls who confessed to him acted the exact same way like she did after bumping into the Third-Year Obelisk Blue. He sighed and prepared himself for what would happen next because, hey, better safe than sorry.

"If you're going to confess, I'll tell you now that I'm not—" Ryou was cut off as the girl scowled at him and snapped back.

"I'm not here to confess!" snapped Jaden.

Well, this was rather awkward…though a relief for Ryou. It was nice to see something else for a change when a girl bumped into him. At least she had more self-control over her emotions instead of going through a love-struck crush over him… However, he didn't seem to recognize her as any of the Obelisk Blue girls he's seen at the entrance exams or any from the previous years he's been in the Academy.

"_The late entrance exam admissions aren't until next month…"_ thought Ryou. _"Either she's a transfer student or I must have missed her duel."_

Before Ryou could say anything, a voice called out and interrupted him.

"Judai!" someone called out.

Jaden's eyes widened as her expression grew nervous again.

"Crap!" exclaimed Jaden. "They spotted me!"

Jaden broke into a run, but stopped to turn to Ryou and bowed apologetically to him.

"Sorry about that, but I gotta go!" said Jaden.

Ryou blinked and watched as the girl ran away before turning around to see what had gotten her so nervous. He crossed his arms and sighed when he saw his fellow Obelisk Blue acquaintances of some sort, Reizo and Taniguchi, run up to him.

"Oi, Kaiser!" said Reizo. "Have you seen where that cute Obelisk Blue girl went?"

Ryou stared at Reizo before turning his head.

"I think she went that way, but…" said Ryou. "Reizo, Taniguchi…try not to overdo it."

Reizo closed his eyes and placed his hand on Ryou's shoulder.

"C'mon, Kaiser Ryou, what do you take us for?" asked Reizo. "All we want to do is ask Judai what's wrong."

Ryou stared at Reizo.

"And by that, you mean ask for her number and mail," remarked Ryou.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Reizo. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a girl to catch!"

Reizo waved at Ryou before running into the direction Judai went in. Ryou stared at Reizo before diverting his gaze on Taniguchi.

"Judai?" questioned Ryou.

Taniguchi sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"That's her name," said Taniguchi. "Cute little thing, isn't she?"

Ryou closed his eyes and stayed silent as Taniguchi continued on.

"She's a tomboy and really flat-chested," said Taniguchi. "So she's probably using padding and—"

"Not to be rude, but I'm not interested in knowing about a girl's bust size," interrupted Ryou. "And just so you could leave already, yes, she is a cute little thing…happy?"

Ryou opened his eyes and saw that Taniguchi had already left, running. Sighing, he shook his head and made his way back to the Obelisk Blue dorms.

* * *

~meanwhile~

Jaden turned another corner and bumped into yet another person, this time a Ra Yellow, and fell back down rear-first.

THUD!

"I have got to stop bumping into people!" Jaden exclaimed as she rubbed her backside after landing on the ground.

"Ichiban-kun?" exclaimed the Ra Yellow.

Jaden's eyes widened as she knew there was only one person in Duel Academy who would call her that. Looking up, she saw that it was none other than her recently _favorite_ Ra Yellow, Daichi Misawa. Jaden quickly got up from the ground and latched herself onto Daichi's waist.

"Misawa, you have no idea how glad I am to see you!" said Jaden.

Daichi froze as he looked over at Jaden. He was surprised at her current attire and barely recognized her at all had it not been for her dual-colored brown hair, but another thing had kept him from asking about that as he focused his question on another aspect.

"Jaden, why are you wet?" asked Daichi.

Jaden opened her eyes and looked up at Daichi.

"Oh, I jumped off the balcony to Asuka's room in the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm," replied Jaden. "I landed into the lake but that's not the point! I'm currently avoiding two guys, so can you help me out?"

Daichi was shocked at what Jaden just told him, but before he could say anything, someone called out.

"Judai!" someone called out.

Jaden's eyes widened and she tightened her hold on Daichi's waist. She was beginning to freak out with Reizo's persistency. All she wanted to do was go back to her dorm…anything was good as long as Reizo left her alone!

"Crap, he's here!" said Jaden. "Misawa, help me! Don't let him near me!"

Daichi blushed as Jaden buried her face into his chest. As much as it was awkward for him to have his female friend _this_ close to him, her current anxiety had him concerned and somehow, caused his protective instincts to kick in. He hesitated a bit before he placed his arms around Jaden, to which she stiffened up at first but the relaxed herself afterwards.

Daichi glared at the dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue who ran up to him and Jaden. Whoever this guy was, he had some nerve causing Jaden to react this way.

The first thing Reizo saw was that this Ra Yellow's arms were around Judai. A Ra Yellow… Reizo gritted his teeth as he scowled at Daichi for being that close to Judai.

"_The nerve of that guy!"_ thought Reizo. "What are you doing?"

Judai timidly turned her head to Reizo, to which Daichi placed his hand on her head.

"I don't know, you tell me," Daichi replied calmly.

Reizo tightened his fist.

"Get your hands off her!" snapped Reizo. "A Ra Yellow, like you, shouldn't be or even have his arms around Judai!"

Daichi blinked and looked at Jaden, who was currently gripping his jacket. He put two and two together and realized what was going on. It seemed Jaden, or Judai, was experiencing her first suitor. She must've taken this the wrong way since, if he recalled, everyone but a select few thought of her as a male due to her appearance. He would've been laughing at his friend's misconception had it not been for the attitude the Obelisk Blue gave him and decided to irritate him a bit just for a good measure.

"You don't say?" said Daichi. "Well, why not?"

Reizo gritted his teeth and tightened his fists as he glared at Daichi.

"She's _waaay_ out of your league!" retorted Reizo. "She's an Obelisk Blue, unlike you, a Ra Yellow."

Daichi blinked and smirked as he patted Judai on the head, causing her to look up at him.

"Well, that's not stopping her at all," remarked Daichi. "Isn't that right, Judai?"

Judai blinked owlishly.

"Huh?" said Judai. "Uh, sure…?"

Reizo growled as he reached into his pocket and took out his deck.

"Duel me," Reizo said in a very demanding tone. "Winner gets to go out with Judai."

Judai blinked a few times before she exclaimed, "Huh?"

Daichi grinned and unzipped his jacket before opening it. Jaden blinked as she saw that Daichi still had on the vest with the six pouches that held six different decks.

"Are you telling me you're still wearing that thing?" asked Jaden.

Daichi smiled at Jaden and ruffled her hair.

"It's best to be prepared, Ichiban-kun," said Daichi. "Also, you're looking rather beautiful today. It's a nice look for you…despite being drenched."

Jaden blinked and blushed slightly as she looked away from Daichi, who was also blushing slightly. He couldn't believe he just said that, though her reaction was rather adorable.

"T-Thanks…I think?" Jaden said meekly.

Daichi chuckled at Jaden's sudden shyness. She was obviously not used to this and it seemed to be annoying Reizo to no end as he took her reaction in a different way.

"Just try not to jump out of anymore balconies," said Daichi.

Jaden let go of Daichi and crossed her arms.

"No promises!" said Jaden. "Hey, why can't I duel him?"

Daichi pointed at one of his many decks, notifying Jaden that she was currently lacking hers. Jaden blinked and realized that her deck was back in the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm. Groaning, she slumped in dismay as Daichi patted her shoulder reassuringly.

Reizo was shaking with rage as he watched the Ra Yellow act so casually around Judai. Taniguchi had just run up to him, having taken the black-haired boy a while to find him.

"Did you find her, Reizo-san?" Taniguchi asked as he tried to catch his breath.

Receiving no answer Taniguchi looked at the person Reizo was staring at and his breath hitched at the sight of the Ra Yellow. He recognized the Ra Yellow as Daichi Misawa and standing right by his side was Judai. Somehow, this didn't seem good after noticing the decks in both the boys' hands.

"Okay, what's going on?" asked Taniguchi.

Daichi blinked and looked at Taniguchi.

"Oh, nothing," said Daichi. "Your friend just challenged me to a duel. The winner gets to go out with Ichiban-kun, here."

Daichi placed his shoulder on Judai and brought her closer to himself as if to evoke the wrath of Reizo, and it seemed to be working rather well.

"Quit calling her that!" snapped Reizo. "You'll regret ever making me angry once I defeat you…"

Taniguchi stuttered and whispered into Reizo's ear.

"Reizo-san, that's Daichi Misawa you're going to duel," said Taniguchi. "You know? The Ra Yellow who made Jun Manjoume leave the Academy after defeating him in a duel…Also, Kaiser Ryou also finds Judai cute."

Reizo's eyes widened as he turned to Daichi, who was currently grinning as Judai hid behind him.

"Well?" asked Daichi.

Reizo stuttered and turned away.

"Forget it," said Reizo. "Challenging a Ra Yellow isn't worth my time. Let's go, Taniguchi."

Taniguchi nodded and started to walk away. Reizo was about to follow after him but stopped as he spoke to Judai once more.

"Judai, it wasn't a surprise for me that you're not single," remarked Reizo. "Though, I am disappointed that you've chosen a Ra Yellow instead of a fellow Obelisk Blue like Kaiser Ryou or me. Once you realize your error, you know where to find me."

With that said, Reizo followed after Taniguchi and left Daichi with the gender-mistaken girl. Once they were out of earshot, Jaden finally spoke.

"What was that about?" asked Jaden.

Daichi placed away the deck in his hand back into its pouch as he replied, "Jaden, he challenged me to a duel where the winner has the right to court you."

Jaden looked at Daichi with an obviously clueless face.

"Eh?" she said.

Daichi chuckled and ruffled Jaden's hair.

"By that, I meant dating," said Daichi.

Jaden blinked a few times before finally realizing what Daichi.

"Wait, what?" exclaimed Jaden.

Daichi burst into laughter at Jaden's naïvety, causing the gender-mistaken girl to blush in embarrassment.

"S-S-Shut up!" stuttered Jaden.

Daichi placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder and calmed down. He inhaled deeply and exhaled before looking down at the gender-mistaken girl.

"Come on, Jaden," said Daichi. "Let's take you back to your dorm before you catch a cold."

Jaden crossed her arms and looked away from Daichi as they began to walk towards the Osiris Red dorms. Daichi looked over Jaden and noticed something.

"Oi, Jaden, weren't you, uh…" said Daichi.

Jaden looked at Daichi before looking down at herself. She placed her hands over her chest and ignored the Ra Yellow's flustered face.

"These?" asked Jaden. "Oh, they're padding."

Daichi looked away from Jaden as she began to grope her chest.

"You know, I don't get what breast size has to do with getting guys' attention," Jaden said as she continued to grope her chest.

Daichi coughed loudly to get Jaden's attention as he took his jacket off. The next thing Jaden knew, a jacket was draped over her shoulders. She looked up and saw Daichi's red face.

"Ichiban-kun…would you please stop that?" asked Daichi. "And could you mind not doing that ever again?"

Jaden arched her eyebrow at Daichi as she took her hands off her chest.

"Uh, no promises…?" said Jaden.

Daichi rubbed his temples.

"Okay, then…could you at least try?" asked Daichi.

Jaden blinked and shrugged.

"Okay," said Jaden.

Daichi sighed and shook his head.

"By the way, I was talking about your uniform, not your bust," said Daichi. "And are you wearing make-up?"

"Oh, that was Junko and Momoe," said Jaden. "And yes, I am…why?"

Daichi placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder as a couple of Obelisk Blue students walked by them.

"No reason," said Daichi. "Also, would you mind putting on your shoes?"

Jaden closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Yeah, I don't want to," said Jaden.

Daichi groaned inwardly at his friend's persistent stubbornness.

Sometime later…IN THE TOOLSHED!

Daichi and Jaden were standing in front of the Osiris Red dorms as the sun began to set. It had been a long day for Jaden and all she wanted to do was go into her room, change, and take a long bath in the bathhouse. But before that, she turned to Daichi and handed him his jacket before bowing at him in gratitude.

"Thanks, Misawa, for helping me out and all!" said Jaden.

Daichi accepted his jacket back and nodded at Jaden, who started to make her way towards her room.

"Try not to jump into anymore lakes," said Daichi.

Jaden stopped in front of the door to her room and turned to Daichi, grinning.

"Like I said before, no promises!" said Jaden.

Daichi sweat dropped as Jaden reached for the doorknob. Just as she began to turn it, the door suddenly pulled back and lo and behold, there stood the two girls Jaden had least wanted to see. After a few quick seconds, Jaden found herself lifted off the ground by her armpits by Junko and Momoe.

"We found you!" said Momoe.

"Time to go back and this time, you're staying!" said Junko.

Jaden's eyes turned huge and shone with unshed tears.

"Oh, c'mon!" whined Jaden.

Daichi watched Junko and Momoe drag away Jaden into the forest. Asuka walked out of Jaden's room and closed the door behind her before walking up to Daichi.

"So what happened while she was in your care, Misawa?" asked Asuka.

Daichi turned to Asuka and stuttered a few times before clearing his throat to calm himself down.

"Well, I ran into an Obelisk Blue student who wanted to duel me," said Daichi.

Asuka crossed her arms and looked questioningly at Daichi.

"What for?" asked Asuka.

"Oh, just something about dating Ichiban-kun," replied Daichi. "You know, you ladies did a good job with Jaden. She cleans up nicely, although…what caused her to jump out of the balcony and into a lake?"

Asuka smiled at Daichi.

"Junko and Momoe overdid it with a maid outfit," said Asuka.

Daichi looked perplexed at Asuka.

"Maid…outfit?" Daichi said questioningly.

A small image of Jaden in a maid outfit popped up in Daichi's head, causing his face to burn red. Asuka giggled and waved at Daichi before running into the forest to trail after her friends. Daichi waved back at Asuka and afterwards, he tried to get rid of the image in his head that caused his face to burn red. Somehow, he managed to succeed in doing that by focusing his thoughts on a different subject.

"_Judai…so she picked, 'teenager'?"_ thought Daichi. _"That's rather ironic…though, fitting."_

And with that, Daichi made his way back to his own respective dorm. At that same time, Junko, Momoe, and Asuka dragged Jaden back to the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm. Lucky for Jaden, they were taking her towards the dining hall. At least that's the only good thing that happened to her after what she went through…

As for what happened next…all Jaden knew was that she had to spend the night after she and the Obelisk Blue girls bumped into Daitokuji. Who knew Daitokuji was on _their_ side?

Jaden sighed as she entered the Obelisk Blue girls' dining hall with Junko, Momoe, and Asuka. At least food will help ease her stre—

"Hey, is that fried shrimp?" exclaimed Jaden.

And so ended a very eventful day for Jaden…however, that was only just the beginning of what would happen next.

* * *

A/N End of chapter. Sorry about the six-day delay, but I got sidetracked with Vocaloid and the _Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist _manga I got out of the library. If it helps, I was also reading the original _Fushigi Yugi_ since _Genbu Kaiden_ volume 10 wasn't exactly coming out anytime soon. Anyways, NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is always welcomed and reviews are just things that make me happy…who wants to be reviewer #40? Also, can you guess what the _Naruto the Abridged Series _reference I placed in this chapter was? If you don't know what it is, just ask me in a review! Anyways, onto the notes!

(1) This actually happened to me at my friend's 15, only, instead of me being chased for food, it was _me_ chasing my friend after she kicked me (it wasn't that hard, I was just bored). Anyways, there were some guys watching us and one of them had the nerve to whistle at us and that was the first time anyone has ever done that to me and I was busy chasing my friend in flats that could fall off my feet (which they did the second time I chased after my friend), so this is what happened:

Guy: *whistles at us*

KD: Shut up!

My friend: She said that!

Yup, exactly what happened and that was the day I wore make-up and a dress, so yeah…I was a little miffed as well. Anyways, onto the next note!

(2) Yes! It's called an alias and what better way than to use Jaden's original name? *gets slapped* Ow! Okay, it might not be original, but at least I'm using that name! Anyways, be aware that I'll be switching from Jaden to Judai once we go to Taniguchi and Reizo's perspective or once they're in close range to Jaden. Yeah…

Now I just hope everyone wasn't too OOC and just wait for the next chapter! Why? Cuz it's the REAL girls' day out! It was so awesome (well, in my opinion it is), I had to separate it from this one or else it would've been too long! Also…pay with a watermelon! The Narrator shall be pleased and so will I once he starts to share… So until then, be patient and remember! Gugure kasu if you want to know when the next chapter will be up!


	15. Turn 15

A/N Warning! This chapter contains singing and blackmail. Read on your own accord and BTW…I do NOT own any of these songs! I am NOT that smart to write songs and they're Vocaloid so there! Anyways…yeah, go on and I'm not giving you the names of the songs, so guess! And BTW, they're either sung by Kagamine Rin or Megurine Luka except for one since about just every Vocaloid, UTAU, and such... has one.

Chapter Fifteen

When She Regretted Jumping Off That Balcony…

The moment the girls made their way back to Asuka's room, they claimed the whole room as their own territory (much to Asuka's dismay). Junko and Momoe pushed the furniture up against the walls save for the bed, which they just kept there. Jaden and Asuka helped by covering the whole floor with every blanket and pillow in the entire linen closet after getting permission from Ayukawa. After they were done, Jaden sighed and plopped back down onto the soft, blanket/pillow covered floor. She was still drenched, but hey, she was happy to have finally gotten away from Reizo and also rather content with the food she ate in the dining hall.

"Wow, you guys have it good with the food," said Jaden. "I'm stuffed…"

Momoe smiled and clasped her hands together.

"Glad you like our food!" said Momoe.

Jaden let out a content sigh and said, "I think I might enjoy spending the night with you guys."

Too bad Jaden's bubble was burst the moment Junko took out a yellow, lacey set of undergarments and tossed it to on top of the dual-colored brunette. Jaden looked at the matching undergarment, a bra and a set of panties. She looked at it distastefully before turning to Junko, who clasped her hands together and smiled.

"Aren't they wonderful?" asked Junko.

Jaden stared at Junko as if something was wrong with her.

"No," said Jaden.

Junko narrowed her eyes at Jaden and placed her hand son her hips.

"Well, too bad," said Junko. "That's the only set I got for you!"

Momoe nodded and picked up Jaden off the ground.

"You have no alternative~!" Momoe chirped.

Jaden looked around the room and focused her gaze on Junko.

"You put a lot of planning into this, didn't you?" asked Jaden.

Junko closed her eyes and nodded.

"Damn straight," said Junko.

Jaden's eyes turned huge and shone with unshed tears as she looked at Asuka.

"Asuka!" whined Jaden. "Help me!"

Asuka shook her head and said, "Junko, Momoe, you're scaring her…we wouldn't want her to jump out of the balcony again, now would we?"

Jaden blinked and looked over at the balcony door.

"Hmm…" said Jaden.

Junko crossed her arms and stared sternly at the dual-colored brunette.

"Don't even think about it," Junko said darkly. "And now that you've mentioned it…Momoe, go check if the bathhouse is empty! I'm going to lock the balcony door if any of you need me…"

Momoe nodded and let go of Jaden as she dashed over to the door. Jaden slumped back down onto the floor and bemoaned her misery.

Sometime later,

Jaden stood in the changing room wrapped in a towel, glaring through the steam at the nightwear and undergarments Junko set out for her. Junko was right, she had no alternative…all her clothing was currently being washed and she couldn't exactly stand there all day! But this was Jaden…she wasn't just going to give in that easily and let Junko win.

Said girl and her friends were currently changing into their nightwear. Junko wore a pale orange-colored pajama set that consisted of a short-sleeved, lace-trimmed shirt and shorts. Momoe wore a light, lilac-colored nightgown that went down to her knees. Asuka also wore a nightgown, only hers was slightly shorter than Momoe's and was a shade of powder blue.

Junko turned to Jaden and narrowed her eyes when she saw that the gender-mistaken girl was still wrapped in a towel.

"Jaden-kun, just get dressed already," Junko said, smugness in her voice.

Jaden diverted her chocolate brown eyes at Junko. The rufous-haired girl knew she was going to win, but this gender-mistaken girl wasn't going to give in!

"_Yuki-kun does _not_ give up!"_ Jaden thought as she stomped her foot, almost losing her balance on the tile-flooring.

Momoe turned her head to Jaden as she was toweling her black hair. She smirked.

"You can't wear that towel all night," Momoe taunted. "Hurry up, Jaden-kun! We have a lot planned out tonight!"

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Momoe.

"Look, if you're gonna rush me…" said Jaden. "I'm just gonna go even slower."

Asuka was wringing her long, dark-blonde hair when she overheard Jaden. Sighing, she continued what she was doing as she spoke.

"What would Daitokuji-sensei think when he finds out you jumped off the balcony to a three-story dorm into a lake?" asked Asuka. "Especially after what you've been through yesterday when you got into that little scuffle with those Obelisk Blues and fell into a thorn bush?"

Jaden tensed all her muscles as she looked down in defeat. She clenched her teeth and growled as she picked up the frilly undergarments.

In a chibi-like manner, Junko and Momoe tested out their first attempt at being the referees. Junko lifted up the whistle around her neck and placed it in her mouth as Momoe worked on the sign. The rufous-haired girl blew the whistle and helped her raven-haired friend hold up the sign with the current score of round 5. Momoe did a decent job giving the sign a cute and pretty look by writing in neat, elegant letters and drawing a few flowers just to add to the effect.

_Round 5:_

_Asuka: WIN_ (Chibi-Asuka flicked her hair before crossing her arms, her expression stoic)

_Jaden: K.O. _(Chibi-Jaden held up the lacey undergarments as the top-half of her face turned blue)

A few moments later, Jaden was wearing the lacey, yellow undergarments and was currently staring at the pale yellow, slightly orange-tinged garment she held up by the straps. Her face contorted into one of disgust (much like the one she made when she first saw her padded bra) as she glared at the garment.

"Do you like it?" asked Junko.

Jaden turned her head to Junko, her eye twitching at the sight of the rufous-haired girl's grin.

"A chemise?" questioned Jaden. "What the hell, Junko?"

Junko giggled and jabbed her thumb over her shoulder at Momoe.

"Actually, Momoe picked that out for you," said Junko.

Jaden's jaw dropped as she stared at Momoe, who was smiling at the gender-mistaken girl. Finding no other solution, Jaden sighed and reluctantly pulled on the chemise. Afterwards, she tugged on the chemise she wore and stuck her tongue out in distaste at the loose-fitting, sleeveless garment that barely brushed the tops of her kneecaps.

"_How could Momoe do this to me?"_ thought Jaden.

A few moments later in Asuka's room,

Jaden was pulled onto Asuka's bed by Momoe and forced into a proper sitting position onto her knees by Junko as the raven-haired girl opened a small box. Jaden blinked as Momoe held up glass bottles with different colored liquid in front of her face.

"What color do you want?" asked Momoe.

"Uhh…" said Jaden.

Junko grinned slyly at Jaden and held up two bottles in her hands.

"Red, to match your dorm?" she asked, holding up a bottle full of red nail polish in front of Jaden's face. "Or yellow, to match your underwear?"

Jaden's face flushed red as she immediately sputtered out, "R-Red, please!"

Junko and Momoe burst into laughter at Jaden's reaction. Even Asuka couldn't help but laugh along as she set up the television in her room.

Ten minutes later, Jaden absentmindedly placed her hand over her mouth and yawned as Momoe applied an even amount of red nail polish onto the last of her nails. Having cooled down from her earlier flustered state, Jaden was now bored…_really_ bored. She flexed her toes a bit to make sure her foot fall asleep. However, this annoyed Junko as she was currently painting Jaden's toenails.

"Don't move!" snapped Junko.

Jaden sighed and closed her eyes.

"Are we done yet?" asked Jaden. "I'm bored!"

Momoe blinked as a thought popped into mind.

"Hey, Jaden-kun," said Momoe. "What were you doing with Misawa-kun?"

Jaden opened one eye as she looked at Momoe.

"Oh, he helped me out," said Jaden.

Asuka, having been bored and sitting on a pillow, was currently painting her own nails a pale, silvery-blue color when she overheard Jaden. (1) Blinking a few times, she smiled as she looked at her nails.

"That's right," said Asuka. "Misawa said something about almost dueling an Obelisk Blue for a date with Jaden. Any guesses who it was?"

Junko and Momoe stopped what they were doing as they went into a deep thought to who the Obelisk Blue was. A few seconds later, both girls and Asuka simultaneously said, "Fuwa-kun!"

Jaden groaned at the mention of the name.

"Don't remind me…" said Jaden. "At least I know Misawa wouldn't lose the duel."

Junko tapped Momoe on the shoulder and looked at her with an expression that suggested something. Momoe nodded and smiled as she finished applying the red nail polish on Jaden's nails.

"There…now don't move until they dry," Momoe said as she screwed the cap back onto the bottle. "Also…that's so sweet! Misawa-kun accepted the duel!"

Jaden blinked owlishly at Momoe.

"Of course he did," said Jaden. "I didn't have my deck…by the way, Asuka, can I have it back?"

Asuka blew on her nails and looked them over for any mistakes. Finding none, she placed the cap back onto the bottle before turning to Jaden.

"Not until tomorrow," said Asuka.

Jaden frowned as she waited for her nails to dry. Junko was finally finished and had just put away the bottle. Momoe propped her elbows onto the mattress as she lied on her stomach with her hands under her cheeks for support. She looked up at Jaden curiously after remembering about Shou and Hayato.

"What was it like rooming with two guys?" asked Momoe.

Jaden looked at her nails and blew on them before she replied, "Like having brothers."

Junko nodded and crossed her arms.

"Speaking of brothers…why does Shou call you 'Aniki'?" asked Junko. "Shouldn't it be 'Aneki'? Oh, you can move your legs, now."

Jaden stretched her arms and moved herself into a cross-legged sitting position before she used her hands to pull down on the hem of the chemise she wore. She closed her eyes and waved her hand at Junko.

"He's been calling me that since day one," said Jaden. "He looks up to me like an older sibling since Kaiser Ryou is never around for him because he's in Obelisk Blue and I'm the closest person he's got…"

Jaden scratched the back of her head.

"Speaking of Ryou, I bumped into him today," she added.

Junko and Momoe nodded as the leaned closer to Jaden, eager to find out what happened next.

"And?" they said.

Jaden crossed her arms and let out a puff of air.

"He didn't recognize me and thought I was confessing to him," said Jaden.

Asuka blinked and her lips formed into a small grin.

"Were you?" asked Asuka.

Jaden narrowed her eyes at the dark-blonde and shook her head as she waved her hands around.

"No," said Jaden. "I was running away from Reizo and his friend! I'm lucky Misawa was there to keep him away."

"Oi, Jaden-kun," said Junko. "Since we're back on the subject with Misawa and Fuwa-kun… What would've happen if Misawa and Fuwa-kun had that duel?"

Jaden closed her eyes and nonchalantly said, "Misawa would've won, no doubt!"

Junko gave Jaden an amused smile.

"Oh, really?" asked Junko. "So that means you're okay with actually going on a date with him?"

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Junko.

"What the heck, Junko?" said Jaden. "We're just friends!"

Junko nodded and looked at Momoe, both obviously not believing what Jaden just said.

"Riiight," Junko said sarcastically. "Then why does he call you, 'Ichiban-kun'?"

"Because I call him, Number 2," Jaden retorted. "Can we talk about something else, now?"

Momoe blinked and nodded as she got off Asuka's bed.

"I got an idea!" said Momoe. "Wait for me! I'm gonna pay Ayukawa-sensei a visit!"

Momoe ran over to the door and opened it. Reason as to why it wasn't locked with a key was because there was no point in it since Jaden had nowhere to go in nothing but a chemise. Which is why she was currently thinking, _"Damn Momoe and Junko…"_

A few moments later, Momoe walked into the room with Ayukawa, both helping each other carry a machine in their arms. Junko, Asuka, and Jaden watched as both girls walked over to the television and set the machine down. Ayukawa wiped her hands together before looking over at the four girls in the room.

"Okay, girls, try to have fun!" said Ayukawa. "And try to keep your curfew to at least 2 AM, I don't want you passing out from lack of sleep…understand?"

Jaden closed her eyes and plopped back onto Asuka's bed with her hands behind her head.

"No promises, Ayukawa-sensei!" said Jaden.

Ayukawa looked at Jaden and giggled.

"Jaden-kun…when you sit like that, everyone can see your panties," Ayukawa said before changing her tone to a teasing one as she added, "By the way, loving the yellow lace…"

Jaden immediately sat up and pulled down on the hem of her chemise as her face burned red. Asuka, Momoe, Junko, and Ayukawa all laughed as the Osiris Red began to stutter.

"S-S-Shut up!" snapped Jaden.

A few moments later of setting up,

Jaden blinked owlishly as Momoe and Asuka finished setting up the machine to the television. Junko was holding a small clipboard in her hand while she held a purple pen in the other.

"Okay, how should we do this?" asked Junko. "Who wants to be first for karaoke?"

Jaden blinked a few times before repeating, "Karaoke?"

Momoe turned to Junko and held her hand up.

"Ooh, I'll go first!" said Momoe.

Junko nodded and began to write down Momoe's name on the clipboard.

"I'm next, and then Asuka…don't object!" snapped Junko.

Asuka turned her head away from Junko and crossed her arms.

"You do know this is my room," remarked Asuka.

Junko looked up from her clipboard and countered with, "You do know I still have pictures of you in that idol dress… Sing and I'll make sure they never see the light of day."

Asuka blinked and clenched her teeth as her eye twitched slightly.

"Fair enough," Asuka said begrudgingly. _"How the hell did she get pictures?"_

Jaden blinked as she thought, _"How the hell did Asuka get into an idol dress?"_

Both their thoughts were interrupted as Momoe exclaimed, "I'm up!"

Junko nodded and looked at Momoe with a smile as the raven-haired girl held up the microphone in her hand.

"I really want to ask this…" said Junko. "Why does Ayukawa have a karaoke machine?"

Momoe lowered the microphone in her hand as she used her other hand to scratch the side of her head in thought.

"Hmm…not sure," said Momoe. "I think she said something about being bored and buying a machine for occasions like this…that or it was the previous idol who made her buy it. Whatever it was, I'm choosing this song!"

Momoe pressed a button on the machine, to which Junko immediately requested she turn up the music. Jaden picked up a pillow and covered her ears with it as Momoe began to sing. It wasn't that the raven-haired girl was a bad singer; no…it was that it was the fact that the song was a little bit too lively for Jaden's tastes…especially when it was paired up with Momoe's cheery voice.

"_He-he-he-hey, hey, could you wait a minute?_

_If you're busy, sorry_

_Just a little, hey, a little while_

_I want to talk with you"_

Junko pulled the pillow out of Jaden's hands and bopped the dual-colored brunette with it, leaving her slightly shaken as Momoe continued to sing.

"_What can I do? What's the point_

_Um.. What game should we play?_

_Word games?_

_Daqui-"ri".. "Ri"-n_

_I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this"_

Asuka laughed as Jaden tackled Junko off the bed for bopping her over the head. Momoe did as well as her laughing tone carried into her singing.

"_Are you hungry? Want something to eat?_

_Umm... I... I don't have water"_

Junko pinned Jaden onto the floor after making a remarkable recovery from the fall. Asuka was pretty much laughing as she recorded what was going on. Times like these were worth recording…especially since Junko was the one who requested it after handing Asuka the camcorder. This was something that was definitely going into the 'What happens in this room, stays in this room…' moments!

Jaden growled and returned the favor to Junko by doing the same thing she did to the dual-colored brunette after recovering from the fall. Both continued to repeat this cycle with Junko pinning Jaden back down onto the floor and vice versa, and so on! It was rather entertaining since Junko was actually showing off the side of her she rarely showed…especially since it just confirmed to what Asuka had said earlier about them being immature.

"_Take your eyes off the monitor_

_I have to simulate distance_

_And yet I watch that idiot"_

Jaden reacted to this lyric by snapping back, "Who's the idiot?" before getting thrown back onto her back by Junko, who replied back by saying, "That was a line from the song, Jaden-kun!"

Momoe laughed and continued on. She wasn't sure if she could keep up with her calm composure as she sang the song, but for what it was worth…they were making memories!

"_My throat is dry and I can't speak_

_Sigh... What to do_

_I'm being honest, you see..._

_No good, it's as scary as ever"_

Momoe held up her fist as she spun around in enjoyment, her nightgown twirling up a bit from spinning.

"_I want to convey my feelings_

_Why is it so hard?"_

A few moments later and an outburst from Jaden saying, "What does iced coffee have to do with rock, paper, scissors?" followed by a bop on the head with a pillow from Junko and a retort saying, "Shut up and listen to the song!"

Yes, this was a rather fun time they were having in just…almost three minutes.

"Wow," was all Asuka could say as she kept up the recording.

"Is this song over, yet?" Jaden exclaimed as she pushed Junko off herself and fixed the hem of her chemise.

A few seconds later, Jaden yelped as Junko tackled her back and said, "We're even now…agreed?"

Jaden sighed and diverted her eyes to the side.

"Fine!" she said.

Junko nodded and got off Jaden to adjust her nightwear.

"Oi, Asuka-san, can you toss us a bottle of water over here?" asked Junko.

Asuka nodded and opened the door to her mini-bar she had in her room on top of one of her dressers. She took out two bottles and tossed them over to Junko and Jaden before setting down another by Momoe as the raven-haired girl continued to sing.

"_Hey, I, you're the one that I.._

_Hey, I, you're the one that I.._

_I, to you..."_

Momoe began to stammer as she sang the next lyrics.

"_Li, li, li-li, li-li, li... li_

_Li-li-li-li, li, li, li,li_

_Lii, sigh.. Sorry, I forgot"_

Jaden was twisting the cap on her water bottle when Momoe's stammering caught her attention. She stared at the raven-haired girl, her eye twitching slightly as Momoe continued on.

"_... Wait!_

_Li, li, li-li, li-li-li-li_

_Li-li-li-li, li.. li.. li.. li_

_Li, li, li-li, li-li, li.. li"_

Jaden growled and tossed her water bottle at Momoe.

"Spit it out, Momoe!" snapped Jaden. "Stop stammering!"

Momoe managed to sing out the last line before the water bottle hit her in the arm.

"_Like, I love you!"_

THUD!

"Ow!" yelped Momoe.

Momoe dropped the microphone and rubbed her arm before she turned her head to glare at Jaden. Junko and Asuka (still recording) were trying their best to NOT laugh…seriously, they were. However, Momoe's reaction had Jaden diving under Asuka's bed with the raven-haired girl following after, causing both Asuka and Junko to burst into laughter.

"Jaden-kun!" exclaimed Momoe.

Some rustling here, some rustling there, and Jaden popped out from under the bed on the opposite side where she first was. She climbed onto the bed and snickered as a disheveled Momoe's head popped out from under the bed. Momoe shook her head and glared at Jaden before lunging at the gender-mistaken girl, who immediately jumped off the bed.

"Get back here!" shouted Momoe.

Jaden blinked a few times as she stared at Momoe's angry face and flailed her arms around before she immediately crawled under the bed, barely avoiding the raven-haired Obelisk Blue when she made an attempt to tackle the dual-colored brunette. Momoe laid on the ground with spirals in her eyes as Jaden's head popped out from under the bed. Feeling a bit devious, Jaden pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out at a dazed Momoe.

"Nyah~!" taunted Jaden.

Momoe snapped out of her daze and shook her head before glaring daggers at Jaden.

"Why you—!" yelled Momoe. "Get back here, dammit!"

In a very childish way, Jaden held her finger up and said, "Never!" before diving back under the bed, to which Momoe followed after. This was so worth recording, in Asuka's opinion as Junko went to choose her song. Junko pressed the button and a piano intro began to start after a few moments. After the first few notes, the tempo and beat changed before Junko began to sing.

"_Bright city lights shining_

_Cold ether lulling_

_I can't sleep at 2AM_

_Too many changes_

_Trying to ignite the lighter_

_But the fuel's burning in your stomach_

_If everything is a lie_

_I'm glad that we ever __could be"_

Asuka turned from where she had the camcorder directed on her bed to look at Junko sing. A sudden voice spoke to her startled her somewhat as they said, "Junko has a pretty voice."

Asuka jolted slightly and turned her head to her bed and saw that Jaden was sitting cross-legged on top of her bed with her elbows propped on her knees as she leaned forward with her hands under her cheeks for support. This popped a question in the dark-blonde's mind.

"Where's Momoe?" asked Asuka.

Jaden pointed down under the bed, where some rustling and muttering was going on as Junko continued to sing.

"_I dreamt I was strangling you_

_In the light of the afternoon_

_Your throat was shaking_

_As tears welled within me"_

The music silenced for a few seconds before immediately starting up as Junko began to sing the chorus, which in Jaden and Asuka's opinion, was rather done beautifully as the rufous-haired girl hit the high-notes perfectly.

"_The fusion reactor is_

_What I dived into_

_There were beautiful blue lights surrounding me_

_The fusion reactor had_

_So I dived to them_

_So that no more would come to us"_

Jaden and Asuka stared at the bed as rustling and some grunting came from under it. This popped another question in the dark-blonde's mind.

"What is she doing?" asked Asuka.

Jaden shrugged, "I dunno, but I'm not gonna check it out."

Asuka sighed and carefully lifted up the covers from the bed to see what was going on under the bed. And lo and behold, there was Momoe, strangling a…black, red-eyed dragon plushie? Asuka's eyes widened.

"Momoe!" exclaimed Asuka.

"_I dreamt I was strangling you_

_In the spring breeze past the curtain_

_Your lips had dried up as you spoke_

_Words that bubbled out"_

Jaden blinked at hearing the lyrics Junko had sung.

"Well, talk about coincidence," said Jaden. _"How the heck can Junko stay so calm at a time like this?"_

That was something that Junko even thought about it herself as she continued to sing.

Momoe turned her head to Asuka and looked down at what she was strangling before blushing.

"Oh, sorry, Asuka-san!" exclaimed Momoe.

Asuka nervously looked at the dragon plushie as Momoe took her hands off it and tossed it to her. The dark-blonde caught it and looked it over before sighing in relief. However, it was soon snatched out of her hands by Jaden.

"I didn't know you had a plushie of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Jaden said as she held the plushie up before bringing it closer in an embrace. "Heh heh…soft…"

Asuka's cheeks reddened slightly with a blush as she looked away.

"I-It's Nii-san's…" said Asuka.

"_The hand of the clock ticked away_

_Like a screen of the TV_

_But there is a person who I can't see_

_Still laughing at me_

_Allegro agitate_

_The sound in my ear doesn't stop_

_Allegro agitate_

_The sound in my ear doesn't stop"_

Momoe crawled out from under the bed and looked at the plushie in Jaden's arms.

"So that's Fubuki-san's…he has one?" asked Momoe.

Asuka sighed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Yes…" said Asuka. "Jaden, can I have that back?"

Jaden blinked a few times at Asuka as she continued to embrace the plushie.

"Uh…can I say, 'Go Google it'?" asked Jaden.

Asuka narrowed her eyes at Jaden.

Few moments later,

Momoe giggle softly as she took the liberty of taking over Asuka's camcorder job as said dark-blonde was now in a game of keep-away with Jaden. The object of interest that was in the middle of the game and reason for Jaden's antics…Fubuki's Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie and Asuka _wanted_ that back!

However, since the girls were currently busy with something else, they didn't noticed how the music stopped momentarily until Junko let out a high-pitched shout that scared the crap out of them.

"_Kyaa!"_

Jaden and Asuka fell off the bed from surprise while Momoe just froze still in shock. Junko snickered before continuing the last lyrics of the song.

"_The fusion reactor is_

_What I dived into_

_So now I can go to sleep at last_

_There has never been a morning_

_That I've__ ever felt much better than now_

_That all my work has been done forever_

_It really is that type of world"_

Right after that last line, Junko burst into laughter, earning the attention of her currently disheveled friends. Asuka immediately adjusted her nightgown while Jaden fixed the hem of her chemise before distancing herself from the dark-blonde with the plushie in her arms. Asuka glared at Jaden, but stopped as Junko placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Your turn," said Junko.

Asuka inwardly groaned and mentally cursed the existence that is of the idol dress…

"_Why does Duel Academy even _need_ idols?"_ thought Asuka.

Asuka's thoughts were interrupted as the chorus began to start, indicating that she needed to get a move on or else she would never get rid of those pictures! Sighing, she got up reluctantly and gave Jaden one last glare before walking over to the karaoke machine. She bent down, picked up the microphone, and inhaled deeply before exhaling.

Jaden, Momoe, and Junko focused their attention on Asuka, to which Junko took the camcorder from Momoe to record what would happen next. Asuka diverted her eyes to the side in dismay.

"_Great…they're recording,"_ thought Asuka. "This better not leave the room…"

Junko grinned and waved her hand at Asuka as Momoe pumped her fist into the air.

"Sure!" said Momoe.

"As long as you sing," added Junko. "Now, sing, girl!"

Asuka sighed as she sweat dropped before reluctantly beginning to sing.

"_It came to mind in the early morning yesterday_

_As if I gathered broken pieces of glass_

_What could this be? Dripping from my cut finger_

_Is this what we really hoped for?"_

Jaden sat herself in a cross-legged sitting position on Asuka's bed as she continued to gently squeeze the plushie in her arms while she watched Asuka sing.

"Wow…" said Jaden. _"Asuka also has a pretty voice…"_

"_I knew it at the bottom of my heart,_

_The hardest choice would be the best_

_My self-love refuses it and repeats self-contradiction_

_When can I tell it to you?"_

Jaden blinked as a bright flash momentarily blinded her. She rubbed her eyes and turned her head to look for where the source of the flash came from. She glared at culprit, who just so happened to be Momoe with a camera in her hand, wearing a devious grin on her lips.

"Sorry, Jaden-kun, but you look so cute~!" Momoe said as a small blush tinged her cheeks.

Jaden narrowed her eyes and went back to embracing the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie as Asuka continued to sing.

"_In the slowly decaying world,_

_I'm struggling but it's the only way_

_Engraving your faded smiles, I pulled out the plug"_

Asuka inhaled deeply for the next part as she raised her voice.

"_I screamed with my hoarse voice,_

_The echoes and reverberations resonate in vain_

_Nothing is left at the end of the unchained me_

_Coincidences that joined us_

_Degenerates into the dark and breaks into pieces_

"_No matter what we do, life is just like that" I mumbled_

_Somebody's tears flow down dried cheeks"_

Asuka crossed her arms as the chorus began to play again. Junko was grinning as she continued recording Asuka. Momoe placed her finger on her lips in question as she looked at the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue.

"I wonder why Asuka-san didn't take up the 'Idol Training Course' offer…" said Momoe. "She has a beautiful voice…"

Junko took out a few pictures from her pockets and handed them to Momoe and Jaden. Jaden took one of the pictures and looked at them. The pictures were of Asuka with her hair up in a high ponytail with a light, orange-colored big ribbon. She wore a short, fuchsia-colored dress with a ruffled shirt that fit her curvy-physique like a second skin and had on a pair of white gloves on her hands. Around her neck was a lace-trimmed choker with a golden heart-shaped pendant and on her leg was a garter that held a similar design to the choker.

Asuka didn't look pleased in that dress…especially since she was using her hands to cover up her cleavage that the dress's low-neckline showed off. Jaden immediately knew the exact reason Asuka refused the offer to become the Academy's next idol. One…was the dark-blonde was a quiet and reserved girl, so singing in front of many people was out of the question…dueling was just exception! And two…just because she was a well-endowed girl with a figure most of the girls in Obelisk Blue were jealous of, didn't exactly mean she was comfortable flaunting off her curvy-physique in that dress to the Academy!

"Of course!" exclaimed Jaden. "That makes perfect sense!"

Junko and Momoe stared at Jaden strangely for the random outburst she just made. Unbeknownst to both girls and Asuka, Jaden had managed to smuggle away the picture into the pillow she sat on. She wasn't just gonna let that picture get destroyed! Jaden rather enjoyed how Asuka looked in it…plus, she got a feeling that one of these days she was going to need it for blackmail or something like that.

"_That'll teach you for using my balcony jump as blackmail!"_ Jaden thought as she smiled smugly.

Asuka shudder slightly at a rather strange ominous feeling, but shook it off as she went back to singing.

"_Yesterday's tranquil night made me realize_

_It is useless to pick up fallen petals_

_Because they will never bloom again_

_They're tiny and dead on my palms_

_Our time stopped long ago"_

Jaden sighed and embraced the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie again. She really liked it…and Junko could see that as she focused the camcorder on Jaden. Jaden blinked a few times before narrowing her eyes and pushing away the camcorder with her hand.

"Get that thing out of my face!" snapped Jaden.

Junko and Momoe laughed at Jaden's reaction, as did Asuka, though only a bit. She still had lyrics to sing and pictures to get rid of afterwards…

Jaden dived under the bed with the plushie in her arms as Momoe took out the camera again. There was no way in hell she was gonna let that Obelisk Blue take another picture of her! Junko laughed and directed the camcorder under the bed as Momoe crawled under it with a currently growling Jaden, who was baring her teeth at the raven-haired girl. Asuka mentally thanked Jaden for making a scene that changed the camcorder's focus from her to the Osiris Red.

"_With this continuously gloomy relationship_

_Sadly, I can't change my mind_

_I still love you, I don't want to be apart from you, but I have to tell you"_

Jaden dashed out from under the bed after a few flashes and clicks from the camera in Momoe's hands. The dual-colored brunette rubbed her eyes before climbing back onto the bed with the plushie still in her arms. Junko patted Jaden's head, earning a glare from the gender-mistaken girl before she went back to gently squeezing the plushie in her arms. It was there, Junko changed the camcorder's focus back on Asuka, much to her dismay.

"_It's raining heavily in my mind_

_I'm stunned, I'm standing dead, and my vision is blurry_

_Despite my determination, the pain is still penetrating_

_The bond between us has come apart and is dying away everyday_

_Goodbye, my sweetheart, it's over_

_We have to leave without turning back"_

Jaden rubbed her eyes as they began to water, as did Momoe and Junko wiped away a tear that slid down her cheek as she said, "So…beautiful."

Jaden nodded and added, "Yet, sad…"

Momoe closed her eyes and clasped her hands together as a blush tinged her cheeks.

"If a boy ever breaks up with me, I hope he sings this song to me!" said Momoe.

Jaden arched her eyebrow at Momoe.

"Why?" asked Jaden.

Momoe smiled and looked at Jaden.

"Unless he doesn't want me making a big deal out of our break up, then he sings!" Momoe said, pumping her fist into the air. "It gives a better reason to why he wanted to break up!"

Junko turned her head to Momoe and grinned, "Smart…good thinking, Momoe!"

Momoe laughed and rubbed the back of her head. Asuka sweat dropped at her roommate's remarks…and _almost_ fell back anime-style when Jaden exclaimed, "Wait! This song's about a break up?"

How dense can you get? That was what Momoe and Junko were currently thinking.

THUD!

Jaden pulled off the pillow on her face that Asuka had thrown directly at her. She glared at the dark-blonde, who was giving off an innocent look as she focused her attention on the lyrics.

"_Just once, just once_

_If I could have my wish granted_

_I'd be born again and again to go see you on those days"_

Unbeknownst to Asuka, Jaden was sneaking up on the dark-blonde with a pillow in hand. Fortunately for Asuka, Junko pulled Jaden away and bopped her over the head with the pillow she was once holding in her hand.

"_I screamed with my hoarse voice_

_The echoes and reverberations resonate in vain_

_Nothing is left at the end of the unchained me_

_The bond between us has come apart and is dying away everyday_

_Goodbye, my sweetheart, it's over_

_We have to leave without turning back_

_It's all over"_

The chorus began to play again for a few times before ending with one last _"Just be friends"_, to which Asuka sighed and looked at her friends.

"There you have it," said Asuka. "I sung the perfect break up song…happy?"

Junko smiled slyly and nodded, "Very…Jaden-kun, you're next."

Jaden was currently planning her next sneak attack on Asuka with a pillow while continuing to embrace the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie when she heard Junko. It took her a few moments to comprehend what was just said. So most reasonably, her reaction would've been this:

"No, no, no…NO!" Jaden said as she shook her head and waved her arms around.

Few moments later,

After some…_persuasion_ from Junko, Jaden was now by the karaoke machine holding the microphone in her hand while she kept her arms around the plushie Asuka wanted back. Jaden giving Asuka back her brother's plushie…pfft, that's not happening! She needed something to hide behind right now!

"Curse me and my balcony jump…" muttered Jaden. "Okay, so what do I do?"

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Junko as the rufous-haired girl focused the camcorder on her.

"Just push the button and sing the lyrics," said Junko. "I've already chosen a song for you."

Jaden sighed and shook her head.

"This better not leave the room…" said Jaden.

Asuka was currently looking at Junko with a stern expression.

"Oh, this _isn't_!" said Asuka. "I'll make sure of that!"

Junko waved her hand at Asuka as she continued to look at Jaden.

"Sure, Asuka-san," said Junko.

Momoe stretched her arms and looked at her friends.

"Hey, it's almost Valentine's Day," said Momoe.

Jaden blinked and immediately started to stutter as she looked around. She spotted the button on the karaoke machine and thought for a few good seconds before sighing and giving in.

"_At least it's probably better than this…"_ thought Jaden. "Oi! I'm going to sing!"

That got the Obelisk Blue girls full attention, leaving the Valentine's Day comment from Momoe forgotten…or at least momentarily as Jaden began to sing.

"_Everything about you now,_

_I~ love but that's a lie_

_But what happens actually…_

_Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm~ Mmm_

_Everything about you now,_

_I~ hate but that's a lie_

_Because I actually…_

_Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm~"_

Momoe clasped her hands together as she looked at Jaden.

"Aww, she sounds so cute…" said Momoe.

Asuka turned her head to Momoe and pushed a pillow into the raven-haired girl's face to silence her. Momoe reacted to this by immediately bopping Asuka in the head. Junko sighed and shook her head at her roommates before turning her head to Jaden. Ever since Momoe popped up the Valentine's Day topic, an idea began to form in Junko's mind involving a certain gender-mistaken Osiris Red…

"_I can't speak honestly_

_It's too challenging for me_

_So I keep on lying with a catty hat_

_I don't know when she came, but I feel her inside of~ me_

_e-to, I~ said, e-Toeto"_

Jaden looked down and tightened her embrace on the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie in her arms as the stares from Asuka, Momoe, and Junko were starting to get to her. Had this been a different situation which didn't involve her singing and blackmailing her…Jaden would've been having the time of her life! However, luck decided to screw with her and have her do the exact opposite that was just mentioned… At least Jaden had a plushie to tease Asuka with as she gently squeezed it…

"_What's important to her, she can't communicate it. That's her name, Toeto_

_She's a timid girl, too shy to speak to you, so that's her Toeto_

_She has hidden herself now_"

Talk about coincidence or irony for all that matter (whatever it was), Jaden was beginning to feel like hiding herself…but no such luck. She didn't want to end up with an angry phone call from her dad if he ever found out about her balcony jump so crawling under the bed was not an option. Taking a deep breath, Jaden continued to sing.

"_I really want to tell you my~ feelings from the heart_

_Hesitantly, Toeto said no to that proposal_

_I can say it, I'll say it, I am saying, but not said_

_e-to e-to, I mean e-to, I meant e-Toeto_

_Red-faced Toeto_

_e-to e-to cetera_"

Asuka stared at the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie Jaden held in her arms. She had a very good feeling that getting it back would mean she would have to go through Jaden's clingy and stubborn persistency over the plushie…hold on a moment!

"_Since when was Jaden the clingy-type?"_ thought Asuka. "Jaden, can I have that back?"

Jaden poked her tongue out of her mouth at Asuka, and turned away from her. Asuka closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Oh, real mature, Jaden," Asuka said dryly.

Jaden rolled her eyes.

"_Says the girl who overreacts when I take away her Golden Egg Bread,"_ Jaden thought as she continued to sing. _"At least it's almost over…"_

"_She is regretful and begins to cry_

"_It's all because of me" she said. Toeto_

_There is no such thing, you know. Please stop crying, Toeto_

_I love that part of you, from~ head to toe_

_I really want to tell you my~ feelings from the heart_

_Hesitantly, Toeto_

_I can say it, I'll say it, I am saying, but not said_

_e-to e-to, I mean e-to, hang in there Toeto"_

Jaden sighed once more and was beginning to feel a lot better now that the song was almost over. Right now, all she just hoped for if her friends didn't want to get whacked…with a pillow, they would stop the singing and do something else that was more productive…like dueling!

"_At the time I really really want to tell you how I feel_

_Hesitantly, Toeto will also bravely reach you_

_I can say it, I'll say it, I am saying, but not said_

_e-to e-to, I mean e-to, hang in there Toeto_

_There she is inside of me_

_Hang in there Toeto"_

Jaden blinked and dropped the microphone as she bent down to pick up a pillow.

"Unless you don't want to get whacked, Momoe…I want to duel you!" said Jaden.

Momoe blinked as Jaden pointed at her.

"Huh?" said Momoe. "Why?"

Jaden turned her head to the side and tightened her embrace on the plushie in her arms slightly.

"I dueled Asuka before, why not you?" asked Jaden. "I want to see what you've got."

Momoe blinked a few times and nodded as she got off Asuka's bed.

"Sure, let me go get my deck," said Momoe.

Momoe ran out of the room as Jaden nodded in approval before turning her head to Asuka.

"Asuka, can I have my deck back, now?" asked Jaden.

Asuka crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

"Only if you give me back my Nii-san's plushie," said Asuka.

Jaden frowned and stared at Asuka before finally complying with the dark-blonde's request after a full five minutes, by then, Momoe was waiting for the Osiris Red to get her deck out.

Sometime later,

Momoe frowned as she picked up her cards off the bed.

"I can't believe I lost…" said Momoe.

Jaden gave the raven-haired girl an ecstatic grin as she pointed two fingers at her and winked.

"Gotcha!" said Jaden. "That was sure a fun duel! I didn't know you had Swords of Revealing Light!" (2)

Momoe blinked and turned her head away from Jaden.

"Well, now you know!" said Momoe. "If you want, I'll trade you it for your Winged Kuriboh…"

Jaden's eyes widened as she immediately picked up Winged Kuriboh's card and held it close to herself.

"Not a chance!" said Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh appeared on Jaden's shoulder, staring sternly at Momoe.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden nodded in agreement.

"_You said it!"_ thought Jaden.

Momoe clasped her hands together and looked pleadingly at Jaden.

"Aww, c'mon!" pleaded Momoe. "I'll throw in my Silent Swordsman cards along with Swords of Revealing light! And I know you found Silent Swordsman LV3 adorable!"

Jaden turned her head to the side as a small blush tinged her cheeks.

"So, what if I did find Silent Swordsman LV3 adorable?" asked Jaden. "Besides, I already have a Swords of Revealing Light card somewhere in my deck."

Winged Kuriboh reacted to this by bopping Jaden over the head with his paw. Jaden flinched and rubbed her head as she glared at her winged furball partner.

"Kuri kuri!" exclaimed Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden rolled her eyes as she thought, _"Jealous, much?"_

Junko picked up a card from Jaden's deck and looked at it.

"Well, looks like Silent Swordsman LV3 has some competition with Hero Kid," said Junko. "I'll give you my Harpie's Brother for one of your Hero Kids."

Jaden growled and snatched the card out of Junko's hand.

"No!" said Jaden. "I am not trading any of my cards for yours!"

Junko crossed her arms and turned her head to the side.

"Oh, come on…you have three Hero Kids, what's one less gonna do?" asked Junko.

Jaden bared her teeth at Junko as Winged Kuriboh perched himself on top of his partner's head.

"Everything!" retorted Jaden. "My Trap card, Miracle Kids, is based on the three Hero Kids I have! Miracle Kids let's me choose an opponent's monster to lose 400 ATK for each 'Hero Kid' in my Graveyard!"

Junko sighed and picked up another of Jaden's cards.

"Come on, Jaden-kun, you need Harpie's Brother in your deck," Junko said as she looked at the card in her hand. "Not to offend you or anything, but Elemental Hero Avian may be on par with Harpie's Brother in looks, but when it comes to strength…the latter overpowers your Hero!"

Jaden scowled at Junko and took the card out of her hand.

"What you said might have been true, but I never doubt my Elemental Hero's strength!" snapped Jaden. "I like Avian the way he is now and will always do!"

Unbeknownst to Jaden, Elemental Hero Avian was blushing slightly at the gender-mistaken girl's outburst as said girl held his card in her hand. Winged Kuriboh, on the other hand, noticed this and slightly puffed up as a vein popped out on his forehead.

"Kuri kuri!" snapped Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden blinked and looked up at Winged Kuriboh questioningly before diverting her gaze back on Momoe, who was still wearing a pleading expression.

"I'm not trading Winged Kuriboh," said Jaden.

Asuka, having been tearing up certain pictures, turned her gaze to her bed where her friends all sat on. She sighed and shook her head before walking over to them.

"What's going on?" asked Asuka. "You know what, never mind. I don't want to know…"

Asuka looked down at the cards by Jaden's side and picked up one. She turned it over and looked at it, her eyes widening in shock after staring at it for a few good seconds.

"Jaden…where did you get this card?" asked Asuka.

Jaden turned to Asuka and blinked before reaching for the card in her hand to look at it.

"Oh, someone gave it to me, why?" asked Jaden.

Asuka looked at Jaden with an astonished expression.

"Jaden, that card was a prize for winning the World Duel Championships," said Asuka. "It's the only one in the world…"

Junko and Momoe blinked before they both grabbed onto Jaden's hand to get a good look at it. Even Winged Kuriboh hopped down from Jaden's head to look at the card out of curiosity.

"Elemental Hero…Terra Firma?" both girls exclaimed.

Winged Kuriboh's fur bristled from Junko and Momoe's combined loud voices before he ended up falling onto a lone pillow. He shook himself before flying back to Jaden and perching himself on her shoulder.

"The card belonged to Kouyou Hibiki, a three-time Duel Monsters champion," said Asuka. "How did you get it?"

Jaden blinked and looked down as she absentmindedly patted Winged Kuriboh on the head. Asuka, Junko, and Momoe stared at Jaden, who continued to stay quiet.

"Jaden-kun!" said Junko. "Where did you get it?"

Jaden inhaled and exhaled before looking up at Junko with a smile.

"Kouyou-san gave it to me!" said Jaden. "And unbelievable as it may sound, it's true…"

Junko and Momoe were stunned and so was Asuka, though not as much as her roommates. She already knew about Kouyou after reading the note on Jaden's dress, which reminded her.

"_I should show Jaden that note and the dress…"_ thought Asuka. _"…Nah, maybe tomorrow, for now…there's something I want to ask."_

Asuka tapped Jaden on the shoulder as the dual-colored brunette gathered up her cards. Jaden looked up at Asuka and blinked.

"Huh?" said Jaden.

"Jaden, how do you know Kouyou?" asked Asuka.

Jaden looked back at her cards and sighed as she continued to gather them up before placing them into a neat stack.

"Well, it started when I broke my leg playing baseball," replied Jaden. "I met him at the hospital where I was staying at the time. He's the one who taught me all he knew about dueling…"

Junko and Momoe nodded as they eagerly listened to Jaden. Asuka nodded and held the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie she had in her arms closer to herself. Jaden, having been planning on taking the plushie away, frowned and crossed her arms.

"So…what happened between you and Kouyou?" asked Asuka.

Jaden held up a card in her hand and smiled as it was Winged Kuriboh's card. Winged Kuriboh blinked and huddled closer to his partner as he began to nuzzle against her cheek affectionately. Jaden diverted her eyes on Winged Kuriboh and smiled as she finally answered.

"Kouyou-san dueled me one last time with his competition deck," said Jaden. "He made me put together a deck just for the occasion…"

Momoe lied on her stomach on the bed and propped her elbows onto the mattress as she placed her hands under her cheek for support. She looked up at Jaden as her curiosity was piqued, popping up a question in mind that she decided to voice.

"What was the outcome of the duel?" asked Momoe. "And what happened to that deck?"

Jaden picked up her deck and held it up to show Momoe, Junko, and Asuka.

"I still have it," said Jaden. "Had it since I was Elementary School…so it wasn't a surprise I lost."

Momoe and Junko looked at Jaden with slightly astonished expressions.

"You lost?" they both said.

Asuka sighed and shook her head.

"Honestly, this isn't the first time she's lost," said Asuka.

Jaden nodded and said, "Yeah, didn't you know I lost to Kaiser Ryou in a duel before?"

Junko and Momoe shook their heads, causing Jaden to turn to Asuka.

"You don't tell them much, do you?" asked Jaden.

Asuka crossed her arms and closed her eyes as she turned away.

"Pretty much," said Asuka. "Though, for a good reason I don't tell them…like when it came to your gender."

Jaden blinked and narrowed her eyes.

"You got a point, there," said Jaden. "Anyways, I was only 8 years-old at the time and still getting the hang of dueling, of course it wouldn't have been surprise I lost."

Junko nodded and rubbed the back of her head.

"So…what happened next?" asked Junko.

Jaden looked through her deck and parted it in half.

"Afterwards…Kouyou-san retired as a duelist," answered Jaden. "He entrusted me with his deck and…"

Jaden trailed off as she stared at one of the halved decks in her hand. Winged Kuriboh looked concerned at his partner and gently nudged her with his wing.

"Kuri kuri…" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden sighed and placed her deck back together again before rubbing her eyes a bit. Asuka's expression turned serious as she knew where this was going after remembering about the note and from what she had heard about Kouyou a few years back.

"Kouyou Hibiki is currently at the hospital," Asuka continued on for Jaden. "He fell into a coma not long after he had dueled you…isn't that right, Jaden?"

Jaden nodded and patted Winged Kuriboh on the head, earning strange stares from Junko and Momoe. Asuka turned to her wardrobe where she had kept the dress Jaden had received and sighed.

"Jaden, didn't Kouyou have a Winged Kuriboh?" asked Asuka.

Jaden looked up and nodded as she took out Winged Kuriboh's card again.

"Yeah…but the Winged Kuriboh I have isn't his," said Jaden. "I gave him back his Winged Kuriboh a few weeks before the entrance exams…"

Momoe looked questioningly at Jaden.

"Why Winged Kuriboh?" asked Momoe.

Jaden smiled and replied, "Because it was his favorite card."

Junko stared at the Winged Kuriboh card in Jaden's hand and blinked.

"Hold on…if that's not Kouyou's Winged Kuriboh, then where did you get it?" asked Junko.

Jaden blinked a few times and smiled ecstatically.

"He was a gift," said Jaden. "I got him from someone I bumped into on the way to the entrance exams."

Asuka arched her eyebrow at Jaden as a question popped up in mind.

"And that someone you bumped into was…?" asked Asuka.

Jaden closed her eyes and grinned widely.

"From the Duel King, Yugi Mutou!" answered Jaden. (3)

* * *

Meanwhile in a place that is NOT the TOOLSHED,

A loud exclamation from Junko, Momoe, and Asuka could be heard from outside the girls' dorm whilst their voices echoed through the halls of said dorm, saying, "WHAT?"

* * *

Back inside Asuka's room,

Jaden rubbed her ears as Asuka, Momoe, and Junko stared at her, all three very much shocked. Winged Kuriboh lied nestled in Jaden's arm with spirals in his eyes, having been startled by the girls' loud voices and falling off of his partner's shoulder.

"Gosh, you didn't have to _that_ loud…" Jaden muttered as she rubbed her ear. "Dear Ra, my ears!"

Winged Kuriboh couldn't agree more…

"Kuri… kuri…" he moaned.

After one necessarily long recovery from shock and explanation with questions answered (A/N That the authoress was too lazy to type…XD),

Momoe and Junko were up by the karaoke machine, both about to sing a duet together. Asuka and Jaden couldn't be any more annoyed…why? Pfft…they were next and Jaden did NOT want the Valentine's Day topic to be brought up again! Neither did Asuka since apparently, that would remind her of the many guys who expected and wanted chocolate from her.

"_When will they learn I only give chocolate out to my friends?"_ thought Asuka.

…Sigh.

"_I don't think they'll ever learn…"_ Asuka thought as she shook her head.

Jaden sighed and patted Winged Kuriboh on the head. Despite her partner not having a solid form, Winged Kuriboh could still feel Jaden's touch, much like how she felt him when he nuzzled or hit her. Even though she couldn't exactly hug Winged Kuriboh, his presence and current purring was enough for her (as well as the pair of yellow shorts Asuka lent her)…hold on!

"_Winged Kuriboh can purr?"_ Jaden thought as a devious grin formed on her lips. _"I wonder if he has a spot…"_

Out of curiosity, Jaden gently scratched Winged Kuriboh right in between where his wings were on his back. This immediately got Winged Kuriboh nuzzling affectionately against Jaden as his purring continued.

"_Oh, yeah…he does!"_ thought Jaden. _"Cute~!"_

It took all of Jaden's willpower to keep herself from squealing out at Winged Kuriboh's current adorable behavior. Meanwhile, both Junko and Momoe had agreed on the parts to the song they were singing before pressing the button.

A/N Okay, this is one of my favorite songs and a lot of you should recognize this, if not…look it up on YouTube, dang it! _Momoe __**Junko**_ _Both__…_now read on!

"_The number one princess in the whole world"_

A set of different lyrics appeared on the television, to which Junko and Momoe smiled and nodded at each other.

"_You should know by now how to please me"_ _**"I know that and it's why you are my"**_

"_OK?" __**"Bride"**_

Asuka and Jaden looked at their friends, somewhat awed with their singing being in harmony. No longer fearing the threat of blackmail, both girls were beginning to enjoy this sleepover…finally.

"_First off"_

"_You should know when my hair got cut right down to the inch" __**"**__**You got a new haircut? Let me congratulate you"**_

"_Second off"_

"_You should know when I wear a brand new pair of shoes, get it__?" __**"Are those new shoes? They're great on you"**_

"_Third off"_

"_For every word I speak to you, I expect three words in reply" __**"Only a word you say, but there's no need to drag on"**_

"_If you understand__" __**"I understand"**_

"_My right hand feels rather empty so hold it!" __**"**__**Your hand is empty, so should we hold them?"**_

"_Nothing said" __**"So stubborn"**_

"_That could be really all that selfish I'm sure" __**"Is that tough act you try to uphold"**_

"_I only want you to think that I'm super-cute.." __**"You don't need to worry at all"**_

"_Truly and genuinely" __**"You're always cute"**_

Jaden and Asuka narrowed their eyes at the lyrics Momoe and Junko sang.

"That sounds like something they would _so_ say," remarked Jaden.

Asuka nodded.

"I feel slightly sorry for the boys who date them…" said Asuka.

Jaden sighed and continued to scratch Winged Kuriboh between his wings.

"I seconded that mention," said Jaden. "Wow, we're getting along a little better now."

Asuka crossed her arms and nodded her head.

A few minutes later,

Junko and Momoe were about done with their duet that's song very much fitted their personalities and tendencies.

"_..But I think that you're more dangerous"_ _**"..But I know that you're head over heels for me!"**_

"_Aaa!_

_Check 1, 2…_

_Aaa!"_

Asuka and Jaden fidgeted in their seats as the music came to an end. Great…they were next.

"It better not be a love song," said Jaden. "I've had enough of that with Momoe's singing."

Asuka nodded.

"I agree," said Asuka.

Momoe smiled and held up her finger.

"Don't worry!" said Momoe. "We already got a song for you two!"

Junko nodded and gestured at the karaoke machine.

"C'mon, Asuka-san, Jaden-kun!" said Junko. "We did a duet, now it's your turn!"

Asuka and Jaden looked at each other for a few seconds before caving in and sighing.

"Fair enough," said Asuka. "C'mon, Jaden…we gotta work together on this one."

Jaden closed her eyes and whined, "Do we have to?"

Momoe clasped her hands together.

"The song has the word, alchemy, in it!" said Momoe.

Jaden's eyes opened wide and she immediately dashed over to the karaoke machine, leaving Winged Kuriboh perched on a pillow on the bed.

"I'm in!" said Jaden.

Asuka arched her eyebrow at Jaden before getting up from her bed.

"I'm not going to ask," said Asuka. "Hand me the microphones."

Junko and Momoe gave Asuka the microphones they were holding. A few moments later, Asuka and Jaden stood in front of the television with microphones in hand. Jaden had just pressed the button, so the song was beginning to start…however, both she and Asuka still haven't decided on who sang which part.

"Okay…you go first," said Jaden.

Asuka diverted her light brown eyes on Jaden.

"No, Jaden, you're first," said Asuka.

Jaden pumped her fist into the air.

"I call minority on your seniority!" exclaimed Jaden. "You sing first since you're obviously meant to go first, senpai. You got to see the _Pegasus' Island_ DVD first because of that, so it's only fair you sing first!"

Asuka scowled at Jaden for bringing up a good point.

"_Damn minority…"_ thought Asuka. "Point taken…okay, I go first, but you keep to your lyrics and I keep to mine, fair enough—"

Junko interrupted Asuka, "Asuka-san, you're supposed to be singing, now!"

Asuka stuttered a bit before bring up the microphone closer to her mouth. Jaden nodded in approval and looked at Junko to mouth a 'thank you' to her. Junko smiled and right behind her back, she and Momoe secretly gave each other a high-five as Asuka began to sing.

A/N Once again, to differentiate the parts…_**Asuka**_ _Jaden_ _Both_, so there!

"_**Come! Let us begin the judgment of the trueness and falsity of the future."**_

Jaden lifted the microphone up as her part came up.

"_Ah! Do not be tricked by the alchemy, promising eternal life"_

Asuka blinked and smiled at the lyrics that popped up. She tapped Jaden on the shoulder and pointed at the screen.

"Guess who still has to sing?" Asuka asked in a slightly smug tone.

Jaden blinked and looked at the lyrics before narrowing her eyes.

"Stupid minority-pulling stunt," muttered Jaden.

Asuka motioned at Jaden as she said, "Go on, Jaden, we had an agreement."

Jaden huffed and reluctantly lifted up the microphone again to sing.

"_The 'start' is a disturbance/chaos revived by a disappointment"_

"_**Even if you do it again and create it again, the 'end' stays the same no matter how you do it"**_

"_Ruler of the Night, King of Evil Spirits is destroyed by the sincere and honest scolding_

_A god copied from the molten taboo has already went to the side of oblivion"_

"_Parallel circuits, your ego (self) is charmed by a group of stars and breaks down_

_= in the end, it's going astray from the RULES of life"_

"_**Even the life-controlling gods eventually disappear"**_

"_Reason"_

"_**Formula"**_

"_Everything is bound to be overthrown."_

Junko and Momoe were watching, both rather awed with how Jaden and Asuka could keep up with the fast lyrics and not mess up. Even the current singers themselves didn't know how, which is why Junko was currently recording them. Winged Kuriboh was currently bouncing about on the pillow he sat on, feeling rather happy.

Few minutes later with heavily questioning the ability to sing quickly without mistakes,

"_**Here! let us break the lock that is entangling the world"**_

"_Here! let us put an end to the false eternity (fake loop), which is misunderstood as an extinguished ash"_

"_**Let us wait for the people that follow us**_

_the very people who are released from the chains of history"_

Jaden and Asuka stood still as they breathed heavily, trying to catch their breath. The sound of a small applause from their friends caught their attention as they narrowed their eyes at Junko and Momoe. Jaden dropped her microphone as Asuka turned the television off as well as the karaoke machine.

"No more singing!" Jaden said as she walked over to Junko and Momoe. "I'm tired of having every moment…get that out of my face!"

Momoe laughed as Jaden pushed the camcorder Junko had focused on the dual-colored brunette away with her hand. Asuka sighed and shook her head as she made her way out of her room.

"_Might as well get rid of the karaoke machine,"_ thought Asuka.

After getting Ayukawa to help with moving the karaoke machine back and paying a visit to the vending machine down the hall with Momoe, Asuka and the aforementioned raven-haired girl walked back into the room, carrying a large amount of different snacks in their arms. The first thing Asuka noticed when she entered the room was that Junko was on her computer. Why Junko on her computer, Asuka wanted to know that very reason as she and Momoe dumped the packaged snacks onto her bed, where Jaden was on. Jaden, who was currently lying on her back, threw up the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie and caught every time it fell down as Winged Kuriboh lied on her stomach.

Jaden continued doing this and, as a result, ended up buried under the snacks Momoe and Asuka dropped on her. She yelped and immediately sat up, scaring Winged Kuriboh slightly as he fell into the pile of snacks. Jaden blinked a few times and looked around her before immediately picking up a box, smiling.

"Awright!" said Jaden. "_Pocky_!"

Jaden poked her tongue out as she opened the box and pulled out a stick of _Pocky_. Winged Kuriboh popped out of the pile he was buried under and shook himself before curiously looking over at the packages he sat on. He jolted slightly when he found himself face to face with the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie. Jaden laughed a bit as she munched on _Pocky_ and picked up the plushie, earning a glare from Winged Kuriboh.

Winged Kuriboh glared at Jaden and huffed a bit when she patted him on the head. Asuka arched her eyebrow at Jaden and shook her head as the dual-colored brunette took out another stick of _Pocky_ and bit into it.

A few moments later, Asuka's earlier question as to why Junko was on her computer was finally answered as said rufous-haired girl moved the mouse and clicked on something before turning up the volume.

_No no, too bad boy!_

Asuka inwardly groaned. She knew where this was going…especially since she knew this song. Junko stood up and ran over to Jaden, who was still working on eating the _Pocky_ she had in her hand. Jaden looked up as she munched on a stick to see Junko holding out her hand.

"Let's dance," said Junko.

Jaden blinked and swallowed before replying, "Um, I'm not so much with the coordination and the—"

Junko's expression darkened as she grabbed onto Jaden's hand.

"I _said_, **let's dance**," Junko said as she pulled Jaden off the bed.

Jaden yelped and dropped the box of _Pocky_ in her hand, spilling the contents out onto Asuka's bed. Winged Kuriboh looked curiously at the chocolate-covered biscuit sticks before caving in and munching on one. Taking a liking to it, Winged Kuriboh quickly gathered up the sticks and dived under the bed to eat in peace. Asuka was watching Junko as the rufous-haired girl made Jaden dance with herself before turning back to the bed to pick up the scattered _Pocky_ sticks.

The dark-blonde blinked and scratched the side of her head in thought as she stared at her bed. The _Pocky_ sticks were nowhere to be found…

"_And wasn't Jaden just eating some a few seconds ago?"_ thought Asuka.

After a few moments, Asuka shrugged and picked up a bag of cookies as the music continued to play.

_The words of crowds are on monitor_

_It's just like clouds in the blue sky_

_Why do you seem to be boring?_

_All right, the night is coming soon_

Junko twirled Jaden around, to which the dual-colored brunette let out an exclamation in surprise. Asuka turned her head to them as she reached into the bag for a cookie after opening it. Momoe was currently looking through a collection of DVDs she just finished bringing in from her room. And Winged Kuriboh…was happily munching on _Pocky_ in a rather adorable manner that would've made Jaden squeal at the sight of it.

_I fly over the dimension_

_And then come close to you in motion_

_Gonna invite you to the new world_

_All right, baby are you ready?_

_I know you more than anyone in this wonderful world_

_I'm for real, Will you leave all to me?_

_You don't need to mind being afraid of all_

_So let's dance with me!_

Spirals began to form in Jaden's eyes as Junko spun her around while they danced. Asuka and Momoe laughed at their friends as they continued to dance.

A few moments later,

Jaden lied on the floor on her back with spirals in her eyes, the song having ended and Junko releasing her hold on her wrist. After a subtle groan, Jaden sat up and shook her head before rubbing it.

"Junko…never again will I want you as my dance partner!" said Jaden.

Junko laughed and pointed at Asuka.

"That's what she said!" said Junko.

Asuka diverted her eyes on Junko as she chewed on a cookie.

"Please don't bring me into this," said Asuka.

Momoe popped up by Junko with a DVD case in her hands.

"Let's watch a movie!" said Momoe.

Junko took the DVD case out of Momoe's hands and looked at it, grinning afterwards.

"Sure," said Junko. "All right, girls, movie time!"

Jaden got up from the floor and looked at the movie in Junko's hand. Her eyes widened as she shrieked and snatched the movie out of the rufous-haired girl's hands before throwing it across the room. The movie landed safely in a pile of pillows.

Momoe, Junko, and Asuka all looked questioningly at Jaden as clenched her teeth, glaring at the movie.

"No…NO," said Jaden. "We're not watching that…I want it dead. Can we burn it?"

Momoe immediately reacted to this by picking up the case and holding it close to herself.

"No!" said Momoe. "I paid good money for this movie!"

Jaden crossed her arms and huffed.

"You should've asked for a refund when you bought _Twilight_," remarked Jaden. "Vampires don't sparkle, they BURN!"

Junko rolled her eyes and said, "They burn when their carcass is set on fire."

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Junko.

"Touché," said Jaden. "Still…we're not watching that movie!"

Asuka sighed and shook her head.

"Jaden…it's just a movie," said Asuka.

Silence and a glare…

"I'll let you borrow Nii-san's Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie," Asuka offered.

Jaden immediately dashed onto Asuka's bed and picked up the plushie.

"I'm in!" said Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh popped out from under the bed and flew to Jaden's side. He bounced up a few times to get Jaden's attention.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden looked at Winged Kuriboh as she opened another box of _Pocky_. Blinking a few times, she took out a stick of _Pocky_ and handed it to Winged Kuriboh, who immediately started eating it. After a few moments, Jaden shrugged and started to eat a stick of _Pocky_ herself.

Few minutes later,

"Hey, look!" said Jaden. "It's Bambi!"

Jaden pointed at the lone deer in the movie shown on the television screen. Junko snickered as she opened a bag of chips.

After some words spoken from the main character in the movie,

"Who the hell would miss blinding sunshine and heat?" asked Junko.

Jaden shrugged as she handed another stick of Pocky to Winged Kuriboh. Asuka arched her eyebrow at Jaden but shrugged and continued to eat another cookie. Momoe was the only one currently into the movie…well, somewhat because what she said next, had all four girls cracking up.

"We're gonna be all right, pet cactus," said Momoe. "We're gonna be all right…" (4)

A few more minutes later,

"I would so burn that truck the minute I get the chance to," remarked Jaden.

Asuka looked at Jaden as she opened up a bottle of _Ramune_.

"What is it with you and burning?" asked Asuka. "Don't tell me you're a pyromaniac…"

Junko held up three of Jaden's cards and scratched her head thoughtfully.

"Well, technically, three of her cards happen to be fire-based," said Junko. "We got Burstinatrix, Lady Heat…and The Heat…I'd say Jaden's just has some pyromaniac tendencies."

Jaden scowled and snatched the cards out of Junko's hand.

"Aw, who asked ya?" snapped Jaden.

Junko pointed at Jaden as she grinned.

"You did…just now," Junko replied.

Jaden scowled while she placed her cards back into her deck. Winged Kuriboh perched himself onto Jaden's shoulder and nuzzled against her cheek.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

"Yeah, I still wonder how anyone could believe Bella's lying," said Jaden.

"Tell me about it," said Asuka.

Few minutes later,

"You know, I'd punch a guy if anyone ever did that to me," said Jaden.

Junko, Momoe, and Asuka all sighed and shook their heads.

"Jaden-kun, you'd punch a guy if he refers to you as 'chan'," said Junko. "I'm pretty sure you'd do more than just punch a guy if one ever kissed you on the cheek."

Jaden blinked and nodded.

"You're right," said Jaden.

A few more minutes later,

"And then he hops the truck and runs away," Junko said as she narrated what just happened.

"Slick," remarked Asuka.

Jaden nodded as she threw a piece of popcorn at the television screen.

"Next!" she exclaimed.

…not gonna bother with how long later it is.

Asuka opened a bottle of _Ramune_ for Jaden as she continued to watch the movie.

"You know you're in _Twilight_ when shady guys follow after you," said Asuka. "Which not long after, a sparkling vampire comes to your rescue in a Volvo."

Jaden nodded as Asuka handed her the opened bottle of _Ramune_.

"Heigh ho Volvo, away!" said Jaden. "Oh, thanks!"

Asuka nodded and looked at Junko, who was currently throwing popcorn at the screen.

"You're going to pick that up, right?" asked Asuka.

Junko nodded and said, "Oh, sure…right after this movie is over and to add to your statement."

Junko cleared her throat and threw another piece of popcorn at the screen.

"You also know you're in _Twilight _when a sparkling vampire read people's minds…" Junko said before adding, "…and when they lie for you."

Momoe reached into bag of popcorn Junko had in her hands.

"Honestly, Edward looked better as Cedric Diggory," said Momoe.

Junko, Asuka, and Jaden nodded and simultaneously said, "True."

…

"You know, this suspense is starting to get annoying," said Junko.

"_**I know what you are."**_

Junko nodded and said, "About damn time…"

Jaden plopped a piece of popcorn into her mouth and then another at the screen.

"Sparkly Vampire #1…speak," said Jaden.

"_**Say it…out loud."**_

Momoe scratched the side of her head in thought.

"Hmm…I'll think about it," said Momoe.

"**Say it**_**."**_

Junko threw another piece of popcorn at the screen as Momoe muted the sound.

"Gay," said Junko.

Momoe de-muted the sound as Jaden yawned and plopped another piece of popcorn into her mouth before giving one to Winged Kuriboh.

"_**Are you afraid?"**_

Junko muted the sound again and said, "Not really…I kinda find it hot. Now all we need is Jacob…"

"Just wait until _New Moon_ and mute!" said Momoe.

Sound de-muted again and Junko narrates what happens next.

"And so, Edward drags Bella by the arm because he couldn't get a good grip on her hair," said Junko. "Then he zooms her up the mountain on a forcible piggyback ride and storms off into a single spotlight-er, sunbeam in an epic snit over what a monster he is."

Momoe added to Junko's narration.

"He must _show_ her the **horror** of his being, a **terrible** _**secret**_…" said Momoe.

"Accompanied by the _**soft fluttering of wind chimes**_," added Asuka.

Jaden shrieked and covered her face at the sight of…a sparkling Edward.

"OH, DEAR RA!" yelled Jaden. "It sparkles! Ugh! My eyes…my eyes! It burns!"

And so Jaden fell off the bed, taking Winged Kuriboh with her because she was cool like that…

A few seconds later, all four girls burst into laughter at their narration. Asuka, feeling a little hyped up on _Pocky_, cupped her hands over her mouth.

"I am vampire!" exclaimed Asuka. "I defy the original vampire genre by sparkling in sunlight instead of _burning_! Hear me _twinkle_!"

"The _horror_!" added Jaden.

"_**You're beautiful."**_

"And the lies!" added Junko.

"_**Beautiful? This is the skin of a killer!"**_

"I knew it!" exclaimed Momoe.

Few moments later,

Momoe took over the job as narrator and cleared her throat, "And then they lie down, slowly, tenderly, among the flowers in his favorite meadow—"

"He has a favorite meadow?" asked Jaden.

SMACK!

Jaden glared at Junko after getting whacked in the face with a pillow as Momoe continued on "—and stare at each other, not touching, softly arguing who's prettier."

Junko took a sip of her Ramune before turning to the screen and grinning.

"Congratulations, Catherine Hardwicke," said Junko. "You have invented the sexless sex scene."

Jaden blinked and looked at Junko as she asked, "The what?"

"Moving on!" exclaimed Momoe.

Later,

"And thus, this is what provokes your boyfriend to question," said Junko. "'Is your dad going to shoot me?'"

Jaden munched on some more popcorn.

"Go Charlie with the shotgun!" Jaden said with her mouth full. "Awright!

…

"And now, whenever I hear thunder," said Junko. "I will think, 'Vampires must be playin' some baseball'."

"Vampire Baseball…no really," said Asuka. "_No, really_…"

Jaden threw a piece of popcorn at the screen.

"And Rosalie's out!" said Jaden. "Next—Holy Ra, they're here!"

Jaden clutched the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie in her arms as Laurent, Victoria, and James appeared on the screen.

"And this is why I will never play baseball in an open field in the middle of nowhere under a cloudy sky ever again," said Jaden. "You never know when vampires are lurking around, ready to pop out."

Junko looked at Jaden questioningly.

"Really?" asked Junko.

Jaden shook her head as she reached for a box of _Pocky_.

"Nope," said Jaden. "But I do know better than to play baseball when I hear thunder."

"_**You brought a snack."**_

Jaden's eyes widened at James before she looked at the box of _Pocky_ in her arms.

"Damn!" swore Jaden. "He's onto me!"

Jaden immediately dove under the bed, dragging Winged Kuriboh, the plushie, and the _Pocky_ with her. Junko, Momoe, and Asuka stared at Jaden, who was currently under the bed, for a few moments before bursting out into laughter.

Later after the credits roll,

Jaden stared at the screen, silent like the rest of her friends. A few moments had passed before she broke the silence by saying, "This was the worst movie ever…next one!"

And so began the Hayao Miyazaki marathon, starting with _The Castle in the Sky_ due to having decided to save Princess Mononoke for last. By the time they've started watching _Princess Mononoke_, it was midnight and they were eating ice-cream. Somewhere in the middle of the movie, Jaden ran out of ice-cream and ended up with an idea in mind after spotting a nearby pillow. Grinning, she picked up the pillow and looked at her friends to choose the most unwary girl…which just so happened to be Asuka.

Asuka never knew what hit her until it came whacking her in the face. She yelped and turned her head immediately from the movie to glare at Jaden.

"Jaden!" said Asuka.

Jaden laughed at Asuka before getting whacked back in the face with a pillow. A grin formed on Asuka's lips as she stared at Jaden, who was currently disheveled and covered in some feathers. Jaden blew away a feather from her mouth and glared at Asuka before bopping her over the head with a pillow. Asuka scowled at Jaden and tried to hit her back, but the dual-colored brunette dodged and the dark-blonde ended up smacking Junko instead. Junko yelped and dropped her bowl of popcorn, which she was either eating or throwing at the characters in the movie she didn't like. Miraculously, the bowl of popcorn didn't spill its contents and landed safely on the bed, where Winged Kuriboh immediately jumped into it.

Winged Kuriboh nibbled on a piece of popcorn as he watched his partner dodge pillows from Junko and Asuka before whacking them over with her own pillows. Momoe didn't notice what was going on around her as she was too into the movie. Jaden tried to whack Junko with her pillow, but the rufous-haired girl dodged and the dual-colored brunette ended up hitting Momoe instead. Somehow, the pillow ended up ripping from the forceful impact it had against Momoe and as a result, it ended up spilling feathers all over the bed and said raven-haired girl.

Junko, Asuka, and Jaden froze as their breaths hitched. Jaden looked at the ripped pillow in her hand and hid it behind her back when Momoe looked at her. Momoe stared at the dual-colored brunette as she looked at her with a nervous expression.

"I-I'm sorry, Momoe!" stuttered Jaden. "I didn't mean to—"

WHACK!

Jaden blinked after a pillow hit her right smack in the face; courtesy of the raven-haired girl she just finished covering in feathers. Momoe grinned at the shocked look in Jaden's face. Jaden blinked again and shook her head, her expression now angry with a playful tone in her eyes.

"Oh, you wanna fight?" asked Jaden. "Bring it on!"

And so began a pillow fight that Winged Kuriboh was having an amusing time watching while he worked on the popcorn in the bowl. The fight continued on for at least thirty full minutes, Jaden and Momoe, at one point, both jumping on Asuka's bed as they whacked each other with a pillow each time they jumped up. During that time, Asuka and Junko were nearby the jumping girls, both doing the exact same thing Momoe and Jaden were doing, only without the jumping.

Asuka dodged Junko's pillow and decided to change her target to Jaden, who avoided the hit by jumping up. Jaden stopped and batted away Asuka's pillow as well as Junko's, leaving her open to Momoe as the raven-haired girl raised her pillow and whacked Jaden. Jaden yelped and ended up falling off the bed…but not without dragging Momoe down with her by grabbing on her wrist.

Both Momoe and Jaden yelled as they landed in a pile of pillows, sending up feathers into the air. Junko laughed and whacked them before getting hit herself by Asuka. Jaden shook her head and was about to hit Momoe when she looked at the movie that they had somewhat forgotten about.

"Hey, I think the movie's almost over," said Jaden.

Junko stopped in mid-swing and turned over to the television.

"Oh, crap!" said Junko. "Jaden-kun's right!"

And so that's how all four girls ended back up on Asuka's bed, sharing a carton of chocolate ice-cream Asuka had saved in the mini-bar for this occasion. The movie was going pretty good and had them at the edge of their seats once it reached its most dramatic point with the ensuring battle. Afterwards, once the movie was over, they began to talk about it over a bit before switching over to a different subject as they finished the last of the ice-cream.

"So, Asuka-san…who are you going to give chocolate out on Valentine's Day?" asked Momoe.

Momoe's question caused Asuka to swallow the ice-cream she had in her mouth a bit too fast. Asuka clutched her head as she went through a small ice-cream headache (AKA, brain freeze).

"Momoe!" exclaimed Asuka. "Don't surprise me like that!"

Momoe laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head.

"Ehehe, sorry Asuka-san," said Momoe.

Junko blinked as her earlier idea popped up in mind again. She looked at Jaden and smiled.

"Oi, Jaden-kun," said Junko. "What about you?"

Jaden brought another spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth as she looked at Junko perplexed.

"Hm?" she said.

"Are you giving out chocolates to any boy you know or like?" asked Junko.

Jaden blinked and shook her head before swallowing to ask, "No, why?"

Junko gave Jaden a rather eerie and suggesting grin. Asuka and Momoe turned to them, having overheard.

"Why don't you give chocolates to your friends?" asked Junko.

Momoe nodded and added, "Yeah, you do have a lot of guy friends."

Asuka crossed her arms.

"It would be something nice to do after giving them a rather nasty shock when it came to telling them your real gender," said Asuka.

Jaden blinked and shook her head.

"No!" said Jaden. "I don't want them getting the wrong idea!"

Momoe clasped her hands together and gave Jaden a pleading look.

"Oh, c'mon, Jaden-kun!" said Momoe. "We'll even help you out!"

Jaden waved her hands as she shook her head.

"No!" said Jaden. "And even if I agree, where am I going to get chocolates?"

Junko placed her arm around Jaden's shoulders.

"You could always buy them…" suggested Junko.

Asuka blinked and smiled.

"Or you could always make them," said Asuka.

Momoe smiled and brought her fist down into her hand.

"Yeah, that way it'll be more meaningful!" said Momoe.

Jaden narrowed her eyes at her friends.

"How am I going to make them?" asked Jaden.

"You can use the Obelisk Blue kitchen," suggested Momoe.

Asuka placed her hands on her chin and said, "You can also use the Osiris Red dorm's kitchen as well…"

Junko raised her hand in the air.

"So, all in favor of Jaden-kun making and giving chocolates to her friends, say 'aye'!" said Junko.

Momoe immediately exclaimed, "Aye!"

And Asuka calmly said the same, causing Jaden to stutter as she was feeling ignored about her opinion.

"Then it's settled!" said Junko. "Jaden-kun, you're giving out chocolate to all your guy friends!"

Jaden frowned and put another spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth.

"I hate you…I hate you all," grumbled Jaden. "And I thought you were on my side, Asuka!"

Asuka waved off Jaden's glare as if it were a mere pout.

"Don't make such a big deal out of this," said Asuka. "I'm also giving out chocolates to my friends, so you're not the only one."

Junko nodded and held up her finger.

"Jaden-kun, try not to think of them as _honmei-choko_," said Junko. "Just think of them as…"

"_Tomo-choko_!" finished Momoe. (5)

Jaden blinked as Momoe looked at her.

"You _are_ just giving them out to your friends, right?" asked Momoe.

Jaden sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"Fine…but you better not show me any more _Twilight_ movies!" said Jaden.

Junko and Momoe nodded as they both said, "Deal!"

Asuka looked around her room and then the clock. It was half past one…and the room was a mess! Asuka sighed and shook her head.

"Okay, guys," said Asuka. "Lights out…we have a lot planned out later today as well as a mess to clean up after we wake up, so might as well get some rest."

Jaden blinked and slumped back down onto Asuka's bed, groaning in annoyance as she realized that she was going to be dragged into yet another day out with the Obelisk Blue girls…only this time…it was at least a full day!

"Aw, man!" whined Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh looked questioningly at his partner, having just gotten out from under the bed from when the girls ended their pillow fight. He perched himself next to Jaden's head and nuzzled against her cheek after sensing her dismay.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden diverted her chocolate brown eyes on Winged Kuriboh and smiled as she gently scratched him in between his wings. Winged Kuriboh immediately purred affectionately at the dual-colored brunette.

"_At least I still have you…"_ thought Jaden.

And so ended an activity-filled night as the girls got ready for bed while Asuka set up the alarm just to make sure they didn't sleep in too long. Too bad she didn't decide to tell Momoe and Junko about it…

It sure would have saved Asuka from a rather loud awakening later that day once the alarm clock started ringing, scaring the crap out of her friends since the clock happened to be exactly by them due to their sleeping locations on the floor. Would've also made Junko and Momoe think twice about where they chose to sleep...

* * *

A/N End of chapter and yes! It's finally up after five days…I get the feeling five days is beginning to be a habit… Anyways, many thanks to **Hestic** for helping me out with the sleepover since…well, when I have sleepovers with my friends, we go crazy, watch anime, or watch each other play video games while we switch every once in a while after boss fights. Yeah! And since I'm currently forgetful, I'm going to also thank **Luving Randomness** and of course, Reviewer #40, **A Neverending Dream of Flight**! Thanks for being my 40th reviewer as well as a helper! And who could forget **Yuri n' Chuka**, who's been the one giving me watermelons when **heartlessneko** wasn't able to due to being out of them thanks to rotten luck (damn you, luck!) the Narrator and was as kind to give me an extra! The Narrator and I are pleased…also, **heartlessneko** is now Super Daichi's sidekick, so that position is now taken! Damn…I wanted sidekick. Meh, I'll go for butler…what? WHAT? Yeah, I'm a girl, what of it? Just because of that doesn't mean I have to be the maid! ...I'll go get the dress…

Also, once I again, I bring up Kouyou and the age Jaden was at that time...I just made a guess because Jaden looked 8 at the time to me. As for Winged Kuriboh and him eating snacks...AU, people, AU! Don't question its capabilities, so ha!

NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is a yes, reviews are just things that keep me happy…so who wants to help me reach 50 reviews? *gets slapped* OW! Okay, I'll just get on with the notes…

(1) When I'm bored, I paint my nails so why not give that habit to Asuka? Whatever!

(2) Momoe DOES have a Swords of Revealing Light card in one of her Tag Duel decks, so look it up on the YGO wiki if you want to know of Momoe and Junko's decks since I'm using their game decks!

(3) I will be now using 'Duel King' instead of 'King of Games' now that we're 15 chapters into this story…why? Saves me typing and I rather find myself liking 'Duel King' instead, so yeah…

(4) I DON'T own that quote! It's from Twilight in Fifteen Minutes, which I found out about thanks to **Hestic **(who also told me about the movie, _Vampires Suck_…I am SO watching that movie), and that's written by Livejournal member, **cleolinda** and not me! The same goes for the narration on Edward jumping the truck and Asuka's remark. Let me list the others as well…don't judge me!

I also use the "I said, let's dance' quote and the one before it, but that was because it fit and it seemed like something Junko would say to Jaden if she told her that.

"Heigh ho Volvo, away!" is another quote and the narration Junko made after Momoe muted the movie up to the point until Jaden was acting dramatic (that was me right there) is also own by **cleolinda**. And the "I am vampire!" and "Hear me twinkle!" is also owned by **cleolinda**.

And who could forget the 'meadow' part? The narration from there to the 'sexless sex scene' is not mine! And the last quote is "Vampire Baseball…no really. No, really…" also **cleolinda**'s! Aside from that, everything else was made from my anti-_Twilight_ mind and from a few comments on YouTube when it came to the 'thunder' part. And I hope this copyright thing shows up because I want to make sure everyone knows that I DON'T own those quotes and such. © 2008 Cleolinda Jones. This better show up because the credit goes to **Cleolinda** for making this comedy gold about _Twilight_…BTW, there's also _New Moon_ and _Eclipse in 15 Minutes_ so go check it out!

(5) Honmei-choko is chocolate given to loved ones and tomo-choko is chocolate given to friends. I looked it up, so there!

Also, one of the songs was the World is Mine duet...me, **Hestic**, and **Luving Randomness **would ALL have to agree that that song would SO fit a Dark Spiritshipping pairing. Due to that, I looked up an AMV on YouTube for such, but found none. Yeah...if I were to ever make one, I'd used Luka's and Gakupo's version of the duet since Haou looks like the tsundere type and Yohan (Johan, whatever!) to be open about his feelings for Haou. So yeah...never gonna happen since I don't make AMVs, but I DO hope someone makes it. *hint* Wink, wink, nudge, nudge...*gets slapped* Okay!

Please excuse me if anyone in this chapter was OOC and the karaoke (**Hestic**'s idea and I liked it)! Also, sleepover's can bring out a different side to you…especially hyped up on sugar and such! And it was for comic relief…anyways, don't get angry for me splitting the chapter up again! I just realized one was a sleepover and the other, was the girls' day out, so yeah! Now because of this chapter, I want a Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie…and I've also foreshadowed a bit on what will happen in later chapters and that's Valentine's Day! I wasn't gonna leave that out! Okay, if you want to know when the next chapter will be up, gugure kasu! Be patient! And that's about it!


	16. Turn 16

Chapter Sixteen

When She Hung Out With Them

Waking up to her friends' screams instead of just the alarm clock wasn't exactly the type of wake-up call Asuka enjoyed…especially since her head was throbbing from a major headache from all the sugar she consumed from eating those snacks. Neither was waking up to an alarm clock that was right by one's sleeping location, but that was Junko's and Momoe's own fault…somewhat.

Asuka rubbed her head as Junko scowled at the ringing alarm clock and threw it into a pile of pillows while Momoe tried to calm her pounding heart. A few moments later, both girls glared at their dark-blonde roommate for not having mentioned the use of the clock by their sleeping location on the floor.

"Asuka-san!" exclaimed Junko and Momoe.

So much for a good morning…wait, hold that thought for one minute. Junko blinked and looked around as she realized something was wrong. Asuka and Momoe looked questioningly at Junko as she got up from the floor and ran over to the door. After a few moments of fumbling with the knob, Momoe and Asuka realized what their rufous-haired roommate was doing…she was checking if they had locked the door or not.

"Damn!" swore Junko. "We forgot to lock the door!"

Momoe tightened her fists and whined.

"Aww, please don't tell me she…" said Momoe.

Junko sighed and shook her head.

"Jaden-kun left," said Junko.

Asuka covered her mouth as she yawned and froze when she heard a slight rustle close by. Coming to realization that a Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie that belonged to a certain Nii-san of hers was missing, Asuka climbed out of her bed…or tried to as she found out too late that her legs were entangled in her own blankets.

THUD!

Asuka muttered as she lifted her head off the pillow she landed face-first on after falling out of her bed. How she ended up tangled up in her own blankets, she'll never know but what she _did_ know…was that this was quite annoying. And it seemed that her friends were ignoring her and well… that just made it more irritating. Asuka turned over onto her back and sat up to pull off the blankets entangled around her legs. At least her fall wasn't that bad thanks to the pillows and blankets covering the floor softening her landing…

That reminded her…Asuka, Junko, and Momoe still had a mess to pick up. Asuka narrowed her eyes as she picked up a few pillows and threw them onto her bed. Not much of difference to the mess that was around the floor, but it was a start! Sigh…

Few moments later,

Momoe and Asuka helped each other pick up the blankets and pillows on the floor while Junko took over trash duty. Momoe crawled on the floor to pick up scattered feathers after gathering up all the pillows. Asuka wiped her forehead after neatly folding up a blanket.

"Jaden could've at least stayed long enough to help clean up," murmured Asuka.

Junko nodded as she picked up the pieces of popcorn on the floor by the television.

"Looks like we're going to pay Osiris Red another visit…" sighed Junko.

Momoe sighed and lifted up the covers to Asuka's bed to look for any trash or feathers that might have been forgotten from their late night activities. However, what she found wasn't exactly what she was looking for…

"I don't think we'll have to," said Momoe.

Junko looked at Momoe with one-eye open as she continued to pick up trash.

"Hmm?" said Junko. "What do you mean, Momoe?"

Momoe giggled softly and motioned at Junko and Asuka to come over.

"You'll see!" said Momoe.

Asuka and Junko looked at each other with perplexed expressions and shrugged. They stopped what they were doing as they walked over to Momoe and crouched down to her level.

"What is it, Momoe?" asked Asuka.

Momoe placed her finger on her lips.

"Shh!" said Momoe. "Just look!"

Asuka and Junko blinked before looking under the bed where Momoe was pointing at. Immediately, Junko resisted the urge to squeal while Asuka just gave an amused smile.

"So, she was here all along…" said Asuka.

Momoe clasped her hands together as a blush tinged her cheeks.

"She sure was!" said Momoe.

Right under the bed, nestled among a pile of pillows, was the girl that they thought had left earlier…Jaden. Surprisingly, she was still asleep despite the rather loud awakening that happened half an hour ago. Junko and Asuka couldn't help but feel a bit envious to how Jaden was sleeping so calmly and peacefully…and looked rather adorable as well.

"How the heck can she be so calm!" said Junko.

Jaden fidgeted a bit before moving her arms out from under the blanket closer to herself. Surprisingly, she was still asleep and Asuka finally figured out where her Nii-san's plushie went…it was currently nestled among Jaden's arms as she gently tightened her embrace on it. On a side note, Winged Kuriboh was curled up by Jaden's side on the pillow her head rested on, still asleep as well.

Few moments later,

Voices began to rouse Jaden from her sleep as a bright flash accompanied a soft squeal from a certain raven-haired Obelisk Blue.

"She's so cute!" squealed Momoe.

"Shut up and take another one!" hissed Junko.

Another flash and Jaden's eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times before she finally adjusted to the current lighting. Sleeping under the bed had its advantages…one being that it kept the sunlight or anything bright from waking one up. Jaden yawned as tears welded up in her shut eyes. After a few moments of moving about under the blanket, Jaden finally found the motivation to pull off the blanket…which she did once she gently woke up Winged Kuriboh, of course. She wasn't just gonna suffer the ungodly waking of…

"Asuka, what time _is_ it?" Jaden asked sluggishly as she rubbed her eye.

Asuka turned her head to the clock and looked at Jaden after getting a glance at the hour.

"Fifteen past ten…" said Asuka.

Continuing on from the last three dots…suffering the ungodly waking of fifteen past ten alone—who the hell is even awake at the hour on a Sunday?

A/N Uh…ehehe…*raises hand shyly* Woke up at 8 AM yesterday…

Jaden glared at Asuka as a bright flash momentarily blinded the Osiris Red girl. Winged Kuriboh picked himself off the pillow he was sleeping on…only to fall back onto it as he found out, flying in a sluggish state of consciousness was a rather bad idea. At least he fell back onto a pillow…

Rubbing her eyes, Jaden slowly crawled out from under the bed before reaching back under for the Red-Eyes Black Dragon plushie and her very sluggish, winged furball of a partner. Jaden yawned as sat cross-legged on the floor with Winged Kuriboh still trying to adjust to the consciousness that is awake. The gender-mistaken girl brought the plushie into a one-armed embrace as she rubbed her eye with her free hand, not noticing how her disheveled appearance caught the eye of Momoe and Junko.

Jaden's hair tousled up from turning in her sleep and due to that certain action, some of it was either in her face, sticking up in various places, or covering her eyes. Her chemise's strap hung loosely from her right shoulder, exposing a different strap that belonged to a lacy, yellow undergarment the girl had come to hate. Despite this, Jaden was the perfect picture of cute…no, that's too modest…

"_She's downright adorable!"_ Junko thought as she elbowed Momoe in the side.

Momoe yelped and immediately fumbled with the camera she had in her hands before taking a picture of Jaden. And yet another bright flash blinded Jaden for the current time as Winged Kuriboh perched himself on his partner's shoulder. Doing so, he took the liberty of adjusting the girl's loose, hanging chemise strap for his partner.

Jaden rubbed her eyes and glared at Momoe as the raven-haired girl beamed at her. Asuka tapped Jaden on the shoulder as she remembered what they had been doing in the past twenty minutes.

"Jaden…could you be as so kind to help us clean up?" asked Asuka.

Nodding sluggishly, Jaden dived under the bed and pushed out various wrappers as well as blankets and pillows. Winged Kuriboh pitched in by collecting the feathers underneath the bed and leaving them in a neat pile for Jaden to pick up.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, the girls had finished cleaning up Asuka's room. Jaden sighed and flopped onto the ground, her arms never once releasing the grip it had on Fubuki's Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Asuka was very unpleased with this…she rather liked that plushie and it had been the only thing of Fubuki's she had left of him that she _knew_ he was capable of _being_ _**responsible**_ in the past years she spent with him before he disappeared. And she knew that Nii-san was rarely responsible unless it involved her or the plushie.

Sometime later after breakfast and at least fifteen attempts at separating Jaden from a plushie,

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she stared at the looks Momoe and Junko gave her. Jaden turned to Asuka, who was currently searching her wardrobe for something.

"Jaden, I have something that you might want," said Asuka.

Jaden blinked and pushed herself through Junko and Momoe to get to Asuka.

"What is it?" asked Jaden.

Asuka pulled out the dress that she found in Jaden's room the other day. Jaden looked at the dress. It was pale, pink color with a light carmine pink trim and a small red ribbon on the chest…the design was simple, yet feminine and rather pretty. Narrowing her eyes, Jaden stuck her tongue out at the dress in distaste.

A/N Just think Haruhi's dress from episode 8 of _Ouran High_…only without a shirtless, non-glasses wearing Kyouya Ootori…crap, I think I just made a fangirl faint from blood loss after giving her a severe nosebleed. Well, back to story!

"Bleh, too girly for my tastes," remarked Jaden. "Do not want."

Asuka sighed and took out a note as she said, "I wasn't talking about the dress…I was talking about this."

Asuka handed Jaden the note as Junko and Momoe took the dress out of her hand. Jaden read over the note, her eyes widening after coming across a certain name. Winged Kuriboh popped up and perched himself on his partner's shoulder as he curiously looked at the note.

"Okay…I'm gonna make a call," said Jaden. "…Asuka! Can I have my PDA back?"

Asuka nodded and walked over to her desk. After a bit of rummaging through the drawers, the dark-blonde walked back to Jaden and handed her the PDA. Jaden turned on her PDA a pressed buttons as she began to dial a number.

Few moments later…

Jaden tapped her foot on the floor impatiently as she waited for the other line to pick up. Winged Kuriboh looked curiously at his partner before flying on top of her head.

"C'mon, Midori…" said Jaden.

Junko and Momoe looked at Jaden curiously as they laid down outfits on Asuka's bed. Asuka rummaged through her wardrobe a bit before taking out a light blue sweater and a pair of black jeans. It had been almost a full minute before Jaden heard a voice from her PDA and responded with a 'hello'.

"Hey, Midori!" said Jaden. "It's Jaden…yeah, I got the dress…No, I'm not wearing it!"

Asuka, Junko, and Momoe stayed quiet as they tried to hear what Jaden and Midori were talking about. Call it eavesdropping, to them…it was fun. (1)

"What do you mean it was a birthday present?" exclaimed Jaden. "My birthday isn't until next month!"

…

"Uh-huh…" said Jaden. "Uh-huh…wait, what? Look at the note?"

Jaden held up the note to her face and read it.

"Oh, yeah…what about Kouyou-san you wanted me to call you for?" asked Jaden. "…What? No way… Kouyou-san is…are you serious?"

* * *

A few moments later in a place that is NOT the TOOLSHED,

A loud, shrill shriek from Jaden could be heard outside the girls' dorm while her voice echoed through the halls.

* * *

Back inside Asuka's room,

Junko, Momoe, and Asuka were currently rubbing their ears as they glared at Jaden, who was currently smiling ecstatically. Winged Kuriboh's fur was bristled from the shock Jaden gave him when she screamed. After shaking himself, he hopped off Jaden's head and perched himself on her shoulder.

Jaden nodded as she listened to Midori on the other line while she gently scratched Winged Kuriboh in between his wings as some sort of apology for scaring him or just because she enjoyed hearing him purr. Whatever the real reason was, Winged Kuriboh didn't care…as long as his partner kept scratching him there, he was happy!

"Have you told him about Duel Academy?" asked Jaden. "Huh? My father told him…and about the screw up? What do you mean he wasn't surprised? You guys suck!"

…

"Yeah, laugh all you want…" said Jaden. "Can you pass me on to him? What? Are you telling me he's listening to me right now? Give him the damn phone!"

Asuka, Junko, and Momoe were trying their hardest not to laugh…seriously, they weren't. Though, they were still curious as to what caused Jaden to scream and smile so ecstatically. A few minutes later, Jaden sighed and nodded.

"Okay, got it!" said Jaden. "Oh…have you checked by your pocket? No…the other one, the one on your shirt! Yeah! That one…so, what do you think? Yeah, he missed you a lot…I did, too."

Jaden blinked and diverted her eyes on Winged Kuriboh as he nuzzled against her cheek, purring affectionately.

"What's purring?" asked Jaden. "Try scratching in between your partner's wings and you'll find out…"

Jaden looked around and spotted the looks on her friends' faces. After a few moments, Jaden laughed and smiled as she rubbed her nose before nodding her head.

"Yeah, I still have it minus that one card," said Jaden. "It's good to have you back…well, I gotta go. I think my kidnappers are getting a bit impatient…yeah, I'm being held hostage by my so-called _friends_…they tried to get me in a _maid_ outfit! Don't you dare laugh—so help me if you hang up, I'll…"

Jaden blinked and looked at her PDA for a few moments before turning over to Asuka, Junko, and Momoe.

"He hung up on me," said Jaden. _"Why I oughta…aw, it's just good to have him back! Yeah…I'll get him back once I get out of Duel Academy."_

Junko crossed her arms and looked questioningly at Jaden.

"Who hung up on you?" asked Junko. "Hold on…a more important question is what was up with the scream?"

Jaden laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh, sorry about that," apologized Jaden. "I was just so happy! Kouyou-san finally woke up and he's okay!"

Momoe clasped her hands together and smiled.

"That's good to hear!" said Momoe.

It had been at least seven years since Jaden last spoke with Kouyou without him being unconscious and in a coma. Of course it would've been good to hear! Jaden couldn't be any happier than she was now. Winged Kuriboh bounced up and down happily on his partner's shoulder, having heard the good news and sensed his partner's current happiness. Asuka crossed her arms and smiled as she felt happy, Jaden's joy having been contagious.

Too bad that ended rather quickly as Junko held up an outfit, a red cheongsam, for Jaden to wear that Momoe helped out by blocking the door. After some struggling and attempts to make it out the balcony again only to find out that the door was locked, Junko finally got Jaden into the cheongsam.

The cheongsam was a brilliant red as if to match Jaden's dorm color. It was sleeveless and the length cut off right above the knee, however…it had a small slit on one side. Jaden used her hand to tug slightly on the top of the cheongsam while she used her other hand to keep the slit closed.

A small blushed tinged her cheeks as she found the dress rather tight…Jaden wasn't used to wearing clothing that fit her figure and the slit made it embarrassing since she wasn't wearing shorts this time.

"This dress is so tight…" said Jaden. "I can hardly move!"

Momoe giggled as she held up a pair of scissors in her hand and snipped them a bit. Junko grinned and crossed her arms.

"All right, then!" said Junko. "Momoe, let's get daring and move the slit up!"

Jaden blinked a bit before realizing what Junko meant and yelped as said rufous-haired girl held her in place.

"Hey!" said Jaden. "Let me go! Help me, Asuka!"

Jaden got no answer from Asuka, who was currently busy pulling on a sweater. And since no one was helping her, Jaden had to endure Momoe's adjustment to the cheongsam's slit.

"Up, up, up!" Momoe said as she snipped the slit upwards until it reach the top of Jaden's thigh.

Junko let go of Jaden after Momoe pulled away and set the scissors down on the desk. Winged Kuriboh popped up onto Asuka's bed and looked at Jaden. After a few seconds, Winged Kuriboh used his wings to cover his eyes as a small blush tinged his cheeks. Jaden blinked a few times before a bright flash from a camera, courtesy of Momoe, snapped her back into reality.

Jaden looked at herself and shrieked as she used both hands to keep the slit on the cheongsam closed. She glared at Junko and Momoe as her face burned red from embarrassment. The slit was _waaay_ to high for her tastes!

"Oi!" said Jaden. "What the heck, Momoe?"

Another flash from the camera momentarily blinded Jaden as Junko looked over the dual-colored brunette.

"So I take it you don't like the cheongsam…" said Junko.

Asuka overheard Junko and turned her head to Jaden. She sighed and crossed her arms as she closed her eyes.

"Did the fact that she's currently glaring at you give it away?" remarked Asuka. "Or was it her reaction to how high the slit is? I think you overdid it on the slit…"

Junko placed her hand on her chin as she looked at Jaden, who was currently being photographed by Momoe.

"You're right…I can see everything," said Junko. (2) "All right, Momoe! Next outfit!"

Jaden turned to Junko and looked at her with wide-eyes.

"You mean there's more?" exclaimed Jaden.

Few moments later,

Jaden narrowed her eyes as she let out a puff of air. She was wearing light pink, sleeveless Lolita dress…a _pink_ dress decorated with ruffles, lace, and frills… Pale, pink-colored lace crossed one another in a fashion similar to a corset on the front of the dress. A ribbon of the same color as the lace was tied into a bow at the top of the ties on the chest of the dress.

Momoe had just finished tying the back bow one the dress when Junko took a picture of Jaden. Jaden was not pleased…sure, the dress was cute, but that didn't mean she wanted to wear it! The pink headband with a bow of the same color that was currently in her hair was one thing, but the dress was where it crossed the line and that third flash from the camera…

"Okay, that's it!" snapped Jaden. "I want this dress off!"

Jaden pulled off the headband and threw it onto the ground, her fists tightened as she panted heavily. Momoe and Junko were taken aback with Jaden's reaction…who knew the girl could snap like that? And did her eyes just turn yellow?

Junko and Momoe shook their heads and looked at Jaden again. No yellow eyes…just big, chocolate brown ones that were currently flashing with anger. Okay, that was the last time they watched _Twilight_, though that wasn't exactly going to stop them from watching the sequels! Asuka just sighed and shook her head…her roommates brought this onto themselves.

Sometime later after various outfit changes with photography done by Junko and Momoe,

Asuka was waiting patiently for her roommates and Osiris Red friend so they could go out, having already changed out of her nightgown into a blue sweater and black jeans. She arched her eyebrow at Jaden, who was currently wearing the dress Midori sent her. It wasn't that it looked odd on the dual-haired brunette, because it actually looked cute on her and suited her figure…especially since Junko decided to give Jaden a break from the padded bra.

More to the point and off that subject, Jaden was awfully calm for someone who was subjected to various outfit changes.

"_Wasn't she just struggling and complaining a while ago?" _thought Asuka.

Indeed she was…but Jaden decided to stop and act calm for once after being forced into the dress Midori sent her. She had a feeling if she continued to complain, it would only encourage Junko and Momoe to continue what had been going on for the past hour and a half.

"_Besides, better this dress from Midori then one from Junko and Momoe…"_ thought Jaden.

Junko and Momoe looked Jaden over for a few moments before nodding in approval.

"All right!" said Junko. "Momoe, get the make-up!"

Jaden sighed in dismay as Momoe ran out of Asuka's room towards her own room across the hall. Asuka walked up to Jaden and patted her reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Don't worry," said Asuka. "They'll be quick this time…"

Jaden diverted her eyes on Asuka.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better, how?" asked Jaden.

Asuka shrugged and said, "I just thought I'd tell you."

Jaden narrowed her eyes on the dark-blonde.

"You know…sometimes I think you're messing with me," said Jaden.

Asuka laughed a bit and shook her head.

"You're just too interesting…" commented Asuka.

Later,

Jaden sighed as she walked out of the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm with her friends. She was wearing the same amount of make-up like yesterday, a pink dress, and for some reason…she felt rather calm. Part of the reason must've been from the good news from Midori and the conversation she had with Kouyou, but the other…Jaden wasn't sure, but she assumed it had to do with her winged furball of a partner.

The dual-colored brunette diverted her eyes on Winged Kuriboh, who was currently perched on her shoulder. Always adorable and there to keep her company, Winged Kuriboh chirped happily at his partner. Feeling slightly better, Jaden looked back at Junko and Momoe, Asuka having been walking right by her side.

Junko was wearing a sleeveless, green t-shirt with a black skirt and a pair of white boots with a brown belt tied around her waist. She had on two blue bracelets each on both of her wrists and a simple necklace with a single pendant around her neck. The rufous-haired girl was currently talking to Momoe, who wore a red halter-top with a pair of khaki shorts and strapped sandals.

Boredom began to strike and its first victim was Jaden…not much of a surprise, there. Jaden looked at Asuka and tugged on the dark-blonde's sleeve.

"Asuka!" said Jaden. "What are we doing?"

Asuka blinked and looked at her roommates.

"Oi, Junko, Momoe…what _are_ we doing?" asked Asuka.

Momoe and Junko stopped walking and looked at each other. After a few minutes of silence, Asuka sweat dropped.

"You didn't get that far after this, didn't you?" asked Asuka.

Junko twiddled her fingers a bit whilst Momoe rubbed the back of her head, laughing awkwardly. At this point, Asuka resisted the _urge_ to fall back anime-style or _even_ face-palm. Jaden let her shoulders slump as she let out a mushroom sigh in annoyance.

"To think…I could be trying to attempt at defeating Red the Ultimate Trainer," said Jaden. "And yet, I'm stuck with you guys for a full day…where has my life gone to?"

Junko and Momoe narrowed their eyes at Jaden while Asuka just crossed her arms.

"And what does that mean, Jaden-kun?" asked Momoe.

Jaden froze and quickly looked around her surroundings before sighing in relief. She turned to Momoe and scowled at her.

"Oi, Momoe!" said Jaden. "Look around before you go calling me 'Jaden'! Reizo and Taniguchi could've been close by!"

Junko closed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"I doubt it," she remarked. "They're probably—"

Jaden shrieked and hid behind Asuka, earning strange looks from said girl, Junko, and Momoe. Jaden noticed these looks and carefully peeked out from behind Asuka to point out what had caused her to shriek.

"Guess who's wrong!" exclaimed Jaden.

Junko, Momoe, and Asuka turned their heads towards the direction Jaden was point at. And sure enough, there was Reizo and Taniguchi…walking about as they talked in a casual manner. It seems they haven't spotted the girls, but that wasn't the point! The fact that they were even _there _freaked Jaden out!

"It's like they're stalking me…" cried Jaden. "But they're not…"

Junko blinked and snickered as she patted Jaden on the head.

"Relax, Judai-kun," said Junko. "We'll keep your name secret."

Jaden sighed in relief, only for her bubble to be burst the second Momoe let out an outburst.

"That's good, because they're coming this way!" said Momoe.

Asuka turned her head and immediately pushed Jaden gently behind herself to keep her out of sight. Junko and Momoe helped out by standing by Asuka's sides. Thank the Egyptian God that was Osiris that Jaden was as small as Shou…it just made hiding her even easier.

* * *

Meanwhile with a currently heartbroken, yet still love-stricken Obelisk Blue that was Reizo Fuwa…he was actually doing rather well despite the recent discovery that his crush taken…by a Ra Yellow, no less! Something was wrong with this picture…it was probably Taniguchi, who was currently helping his friend think of a way to steal away Judai from Daichi.

It wasn't because he was worried about Reizo, no…Taniguchi was actually thinking ahead afterwards to how _he_ himself would steal Judai away or at least ask for her number! And…hold that thought! Was that brunette in a pink dress and white sandals who they thought it was? And did she just shriek and hide behind that dark-blonde who was unmistakably the Obelisk Blue beauty, Asuka Tenjoin?

Taniguchi held his arm out to stop Reizo as he immediately directed the dark-brown haired Obelisk Blue towards the object of his attention. After a few glances at the hiding girl, Reizo looked at Taniguchi.

"Is that who I think it is?" asked Reizo.

Taniguchi crossed his arms and turned his head.

"Well, I ain't saying that it isn't," remarked Taniguchi.

Reizo looked back before turning to Taniguchi.

"Wanna find out?" suggested Reizo.

Taniguchi grinned at Reizo.

"Thought you'd never ask, Reizo-san," replied Taniguchi.

And so that's how both Obelisk Blues ended up walking towards the girls, Momoe and Junko currently ignored. If they ever knew…_ohh_, there would be hell to pay. Reizo and Taniguchi waved at the girls.

"Morning, ladies!" greeted Taniguchi.

Junko, Momoe, and Asuka responded back with a somewhat unenthusiastic greeting. Reizo tried to peer over the girls, only for Junko to look him in the eye.

"What are you doing, Fuwa-kun?" asked Junko.

Reizo backed up a bit from Junko and cleared his throat.

"Just wondering who's behind you," said Reizo. "So…is that Judai?"

Jaden swallowed hard and gripped Asuka's sweat, hoping with all her might that the Egyptian God that her dorm was named after would help her… Too bad Kami-sama (3) decided to ignore her pleads by scaring the crap out of her when Taniguchi tugged on the back of her dress.

"Hey, it is!" said Taniguchi.

THUD!

Taniguchi keeled over onto the ground after getting a back kick to the stomach from Jaden. Jaden was somewhat hyperventilating as she her grip on Asuka's sweater tightened. Wait, did she just…? And apparently, she did as she was now face-to-face with Reizo.

"Crap…" muttered Jaden. _"Smooth, Yuki-kun…we could've done a lot better without the fail!"_

Jaden sighed and narrowed her eyes.

"_Great…now I'm scolding myself,"_ thought Jaden. "What is it, Reizo?"

Reizo smiled widely at Jaden, causing her to sweat drop.

"You're looking rather beautiful today, Judai," said Reizo.

Jade-er, Judai…narrowed her eyes and Reizo and turned her head away from him as she distanced herself from him.

"Not interested," said Judai.

Reizo blinked and smirked.

"Oh, sorry…forgot about your Ra Yellow boyfriend," remarked Reizo. "What was his name? Daichi Misawa?"

Judai clenched her teeth as she glared at Reizo, who continued on.

* * *

Meanwhile with a certain Number Two,

Daichi sneezed and rubbed his nose as he had a feeling something just went on involving him. After a few seconds, he shrugged it off and continued to walk. The sun was shining and the breeze was rather nice combined with the warm sunlight…it may have been Sunday, but with weather like this, it would've been a waste to sleep in. So Daichi decided to walk around Duel Academy just for the heck of it to enjoy the pleasant weather.

* * *

Back with our Obelisk Blue group plus one Osiris Red,

"What do you see in that Ra Yellow?" asked Reizo. "Honestly, you could do better with Kaiser Ryou. I heard he thinks you're cute…"

Taniguchi got off the ground and looked at Judai and Reizo while rubbing his stomach. For a rather small girl, Judai can hit…speaking of Judai, she looked rather enraged. Judai was almost shaking in anger as she glared at Reizo.

"Shut…up!" snapped Judai. "No one talks about Misawa like that!"

Judai lifted Reizo up by the collar of his shirt and held her fist up to his face.

"If you got anything to say…say it now!" exclaimed Judai.

Reizo blinked and smiled nervously at Judai.

"You look nice in that dress…?" said Reizo.

Wrong choice of words to say to Judai… So that earned Reizo a kick below the belt…a rather _hard_ kick to teach him better than to badmouth Judai's friends and try to flirt with her afterwards. Judai dropped Reizo onto the ground and huffed when he landed onto the ground keeled over. Taniguchi immediately ran to his friend's side while Asuka, Junko, and Momoe decided it was a good time to walk away and dragged their friend along with them.

After the girls were a good distance away from the Obelisk Blue boys, Jaden (we're back to her real name) inhaled deeply and exhaled. Asuka, Junko, and Momoe stared at Jaden, not knowing what to do with their Osiris Red friend. Although, her reaction to Reizo badmouthing Daichi was rather amusing and not to mention rather sweet to how she defended him…well, in Momoe's opinion, it was.

"Aww, that was cute!" Momoe said as she latched onto Jaden. "You defended Misawa-kun after all the bad things Fuwa-kun said about him!"

Jaden blinked as Junko crossed her arms and smiled slyly.

"I think Fuwa-kun's jealous," said Junko. "Jaden-kun, you heartbreaker…"

Jaden furrowed her brow and looked perplexed at Junko as Momoe began to pinch her cheeks.

"Eh?" said Jaden.

Asuka sighed and shook her head. Typical reaction from the girl who didn't know what a fiancée was…

"_How the heck does Hayato and Shou do it?"_ thought Asuka.

Jaden blinked a few times before batting away Momoe's hands. Afterwards, she rubbed her cheeks.

"Don't do that again, Momoe…" said Jaden. "Oi, Junko! Wanna duel?"

Junko arched her eyebrow at Jaden and nodded as she gently elbowed Momoe in the side. Momoe reached into her pocket and handed Junko her deck whilst Asuka did the same to Jaden.

Sometime later on Main Campus,

Junko and Jaden sat on opposite sides on a bench facing each other as they dueled. Despite having not been given any shorts because of her dress's long skirt, Jaden still had no problem sitting in a cross-legged position…much to the dismay of her friends. Asuka sighed and shook her head at the Osiris Red as said girl set down her white sandals onto the ground.

A few moments had passed when a very familiar Ra Yellow walked by the girls. Daichi had to backtrack his steps after he walked pass something that caught his attention. After a few moments of backtracking, Daichi stopped and focused his gaze on a group of four girls sitting on a bench. He recognized them as Asuka, Momoe, Junko, and…was that Jaden?

"Ichiban-kun?" exclaimed Daichi.

Jaden blinked and turned her head from her hand, having been dueling Junko. She smiled and waved at Daichi as she said, "Hey, Number Two!"

Daichi found himself waving back at Jaden in response to her greeting, though in a somewhat timid manner. Junko and Momoe had turned their heads to Daichi and saw his reaction to Jaden's greeting. They giggled softly as they had a feeling the Ra Yellow's behavior was caused by the way Jaden looked. That meant both girls have done their job well when it came to bringing out their Osiris Red's feminine charm.

Asuka gave Daichi an amused smile. It was rather rare for the Ra Yellow to act a little timid around a girl…especially one he came to see as a rival. Then again, Jaden wasn't like other girls and with how she looked at the current moment, who could blame him?

"What's going on?" asked Daichi.

Asuka gestured at the current duel that was going on between Jaden and Junko. On Junko's field in attack mode, was Harpie's Brother and on Jaden's…Elemental Hero Avian, also in attack mode. Apparently, what had gone on last night was now being settled in this duel. Jaden and Junko had their gaze locked on each other, a crackling stream of lightning arcing back and forth between their eyes. Daichi arched his eyebrow at them and looked at Asuka.

"What's with the intense stares?" asked Daichi.

Asuka sighed and crossed her arms.

"Last night, Ja-Judai…was offered a Harpie's Brother for one of her Hero Kids by Junko," explained Asuka. "Long story short, Junko told Jaden her Harpie's Brother could beat Elemental Hero Avian. By the way, your girlfriend had another run-in with her suitor."

Daichi blinked and stuttered at what Asuka just referred Jaden as. Asuka grinned and laughed a bit.

"Relax, I was kidding," said Asuka.

Daichi inhaled and exhaled as he held his hand over his chest.

"Please don't do that, Asuka," said Daichi. "So…what happened?"

"The usual," said Asuka. "She kicked him down."

Daichi looked at Jaden and noticed the pink dress she wore.

"In that dress?" asked Daichi.

Asuka nodded whilst Daichi realized the sitting position Jaden was in.

"Please tell me she's wearing something under…" said Daichi.

Silence…

Daichi sighed and rubbed his temples.

"She is just _too_ interesting," said Daichi.

Asuka closed her eyes and nodded.

"Tell me about it…" said Asuka.

"Gotcha!" Jaden said as she winked and pointed two fingers at Junko. "That was a fun duel!"

Junko frowned and picked up her cards. She and her Harpie's Brother had lost…to Elemental Hero Avian no less.

"Damn Skyscraper…" muttered Junko.

Jaden cleared her throat to catch Junko's attention and held out Elemental Hero Avian's card in her face.

"Apologize to Avian," said Jaden.

Junko sighed and said, "Sorry for doubting your strength."

Jaden nodded in approval as Winged Kuriboh perched himself on his partner's shoulder. She looked at the card in her hand and smiled at Avian.

"I couldn't have done it without you!" Jaden said before lightly kissing her Elemental Hero Avian card.

While Jaden might've missed Elemental Hero Avian's slight blush, Winged Kuriboh didn't. Winged Kuriboh puffed up as a vein popped out on his forehead at what Jaden just did.

"Kuri kuri!" snapped Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Winged Kuriboh and stared at him, perplexed.

"_What is up with him?"_ thought Jaden.

Jaden lifted her hand over Winged Kuriboh and gently scratched in between his wings. This immediately changed Winged Kuriboh's somewhat hostile behavior to his usual affectionate one as he purred. Jaden gathered up her deck and moved repositioned herself so she was now sitting on the bench _properly_ as she faced Daichi. She stood up from her seat and fixed her dress a bit before looking at Daichi.

"Oi, Misawa!" said Jaden.

Daichi looked at Jaden as she started walking towards him…only to step on her dress's skirt, trip, and fall forward. Daichi reacted quickly by catching Jaden, though by doing that…it earned him potential relationship points that Junko and Momoe began to tally.

"Stupid dress…" muttered Jaden. "I'm gonna complain about it to Midori!"

Daichi arched his eyebrow at Jaden as he helped her regain her footing.

"Midori?" question Daichi.

One explanation later,

Daichi was rather calm after learning about Kouyou Hibiki's passing his deck onto Jaden. Though, unlike Junko, Momoe, and Asuka, Daichi was already shocked with Jaden being the owner of a certain Elemental Hero from when he dueled her for Asuka's number. After hearing the explanation, it made so much sense to _why_ she owned the Hero.

"That explains why you had Elemental Hero Terra Firma," said Daichi.

Asuka looked questioningly at Daichi.

"You mean you already knew about Terra Firma?" asked Asuka.

Daichi nodded and replied, "Sure…Ichiban-kun used it in a duel against me when we were-er, dueling for the _Pegasus' Island_ DVD."

Asuka blinked and nodded.

"Oh, must've missed it, then," said Asuka. "I did come right after you guys finished."

Jaden looked at Asuka.

"Then how did you know about the duel?" asked Jaden.

Asuka closed her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Shou-kun," replied Asuka.

Jaden blinked and nodded as she turned to Junko and Momoe. Smiling widely as she closed her eyes, Jaden held out her arms.

"Hey, can we go to the store?" asked Jaden. "I want to buy some Drawbread!"

Junko, Momoe, Asuka, and Daichi all sweat dropped with Jaden's sudden random outburst that involved food.

"Weren't we just talking about how you know Midori and Kouyou Hibiki?" asked Daichi.

Jaden put her hands behind her head and looked at Daichi as she said in a very cute manner, "Yes."

A/N Think episode 16 dubbed "Yes." cute.

"Then, what's up with the Drawbread remark?" asked Asuka.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Asuka and replied, "I'm hungry…plus, I want to buy a card pack."

Daichi and Asuka sighed is dismay while Junko and Momoe shook their heads.

* * *

A little later at the store,

Shou, having feeling hungry and wanting to try his luck a bit, decided to go to the Drawbread cart. Today was one of those days where Ryou had time to spend with his little brother and Shou had been making the most of it by talking about the 'Duel Spirit' incident along with another few interesting things. Ryou was quite amused to how Jaden owned a card that previously belonged to the Duel King, Yugi Mutou.

Ryou leaned against the wall while he kept a close eye on Shou as the blue-haired Osiris Red walked over to the Drawbread cart. He arched his eyebrow when he spotted a somewhat familiar face by the cart. It was a brown-haired girl in a pink dress and white sandals. Now it wasn't unusual to see students wearing something else other than their usual uniform on a Sunday, in fact…it was rather common. It was that he recognized the girl as the one who bumped into him yesterday whom Reizo and Taniguchi were chasing after.

Shou didn't seem to notice her as he reached into the pile of unmarked packages and pulled one out. Blinking a few times he slowly opened the package and bit into it. After chewing a few times he frowned and slumped over a bit.

"Curry bread…" lamented Shou.

The girl, Jaden, standing next to him was currently reaching into the packages when she overheard Shou. Having recognized his voice and seen his blue hair, she smiled as she searched through the packages.

"Better luck next time, Shou," said Jaden.

Shou looked up and blinked.

"Aniki?" Shou said as he looked around.

Jaden picked out a random package and looked at Shou. Shou was about ready to exclaim at his Aniki's rather different appearance followed by the fact that she was wearing a pink dress. Jaden prevented him by clamping her hand over his mouth.

"Shh!" said Jaden. "Call me 'Judai'."

Shou blinked and nodded, to which Jaden released her hold on his mouth. Jaden looked at the package of bread she picked out and opened it. She looked at it for a few seconds before biting in. Afterwards, she smiled and happily exclaimed, "I got the Golden Egg Bread!"

Insert annoyed groans and a few swears from students around the Drawbread cart here…

Some of the students around the Drawbread cart glared at Jaden with a murderous intent until they gotten a good look at her. Afterwards, they just went back to their casual talk despite their dismay at not drawing the Golden Egg Bread. Shou looked at Jaden and sighed.

"That's the sixth time in a row you've gotten it, Ani-I mean, Judai-kun," said Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou as she chewed slowly in thought. A few moments had passed when Jaden swallowed and tore her Golden Egg Bread in half. Shou arched his eyebrow at Jaden and exclaimed slightly when she handed him the unbitten half of her Golden Egg Bread.

"Judai-kun…" Shou said as he looked at the Golden Egg Bread half in his hand.

Jaden looked at Shou and smiled at him.

"I thought I'd give you half!" said Jaden.

Shou blushed slightly as he smiled back at Jaden.

"Thanks, Judai-kun!" said Shou.

Jaden laughed a bit and ruffled Shou's hair. This earned Shou many death glares from jealous male students who had seen Jaden give him half her Golden Egg Bread. The majority who were angry at the gender-mistaken girl for giving half her bread to an Osiris Red were Obelisk Blue students with superiority-complexes.

Ryou had seen everything and walked over to his younger brother and the girl he knew as Judai. His sudden appearance followed by his actions that involved him placing his hand on Shou's shoulder caused the murderous glares to immediately stop and had caused some Obelisk Blue students to walk away. Staring sternly at the remaining Obelisk Blues, Ryou focused his gaze back on Shou as the blue-haired Osiris Red looked questioningly at his Onii-san.

"Onii-san?" said Shou.

Judai looked up at Ryou after taking another bite out of her Golden Egg Bread.

"Hey, Kaiser Ryou," Judai said as she chewed.

Ryou looked at Judai and gave her a small smile. She looked rather familiar now that he had gotten a closer look at her. If he didn't know any better, then he would've think she looked like a female version of—Ryou's eyes widened slightly as came to a conclusion after putting two and two together. He chuckled a bit afterwards.

"_So that's what Asuka meant by interesting,"_ thought Ryou._ "Never would've thought it."_

Ryou ruffled Judai's hair as he looked at Shou.

"You sure do have an interesting Aniki," said Ryou.

Shou blinked and nodded.

"Yeah!" said Shou.

Judai bit into her bread again while Ryou and Shou talked a bit.

"Aren't you going to invite Judai?" asked Ryou.

Shou blinked and rubbed the back of his head as he turned to Judai.

"Judai-kun, you want to come along?" asked Shou.

Judai looked at Shou as she chewed slowly in thought before nodding.

"Sure…it'd give me a reason to ditch Asuka, Momoe, and Junko," Judai said before swallowing.

Shou closed his eyes and laughed awkwardly as Judai placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Oi, Shou!" said Judai. "Do you mind if I buy a card pack?"

Ryou placed his hand on Judai's head to earn her attention.

"Mind if I buy it for you?" asked Ryou.

Judai looked questioningly at Ryou.

"Hm?" she said.

Ryou looked over at the counter and replied, "It's the least I can do for a friend of Shou's."

Judai blinked and shrugged.

"Uh, sure…?" said Judai.

Ryou nodded and started to make his way towards the counter, where Tome was currently standing at by the register.

"Hello, Ryou-kun!" Tome greeted. "What can I do for you?"

Ryou reached into his pocket as he replied, "Can I get one card pack?"

Tome blinked and smiled at Ryou as she reached under the counter for a packet.

"Sure thing, Kaiser!" said Tome. "Are you buying it for yourself or is it for someone else? You rarely buy card packs anymore."

Ryou directed Tome at Judai and Shou. Tome spotted Judai and smiled.

"So, it's for a girl," Tome said, giggling softly afterwards.

Ryou stayed calm and collected as he handed Tome money for the packet she gave him.

"It's not in that way," said Ryou. "It's just a little gift for Shou's friend, Judai."

Tome accepted the money and punched in a few buttons on the register before handing Ryou his change.

"So that's Judai-chan…" Tome said, already having been told about Jaden's alias by Asuka.

Ryou arched his eyebrow at Tome as he placed his change into his pocket.

"You've heard about her?" asked Ryou.

Tome nodded as she replied, "I've heard about a girl by the name of 'Judai' rejecting a boy and kicking him down when he wouldn't leave her alone. I just never thought that cute little girl was Judai-chan."

Ryou nodded and looked at Judai.

"Looks can be deceiving," remarked Ryou. "Oh, Tome-san…would you mind giving Asuka and her friends a message? I left my PDA in my room."

Tome blinked and nodded as she smiled at Ryou.

"Sure, Kaiser!" said Tome.

* * *

Sometime later,

Asuka, Momoe, and Junko walked up to Tome at the counter, each girl holding a cone with soft serve ice-cream. They were meaning to eat lunch with Jaden, but decided to give her a break by leaving her by the Drawbread cart, but not before telling Tome to keep a close eye on her. Asuka greeted the older woman and looked around for Jaden, but saw that she was nowhere in sight.

"Oi, Tome-san, where's Judai?" asked Asuka.

Tome blinked and handed Asuka a folded piece of paper.

"Ryou-kun told me to give this to you," replied Tome. "Don't worry, Judai-chan is okay."

Asuka nodded and accepted the piece of paper. She unfolded the paper and read the small message on it. Junko and Momoe looked curiously at the paper as Asuka read it.

"Asuka-san, where's Judai-kun?" asked Momoe.

Asuka looked up from the paper and smiled at her friends.

"Oh, she's with Ryou and Shou," said Asuka.

Junko blinked and puffed up her cheeks a bit.

"So Judai-kun ditched us, eh?" said Junko.

Asuka shrugged and folded up the paper.

"We should've seen it coming," said Asuka.

Junko sighed and nodded before taking a lick out of her ice-cream.

"Good point," said Junko. "Might as well get her stuff ready to take back to her dorm…Momoe?"

Momoe was currently smiling happily as a blush tinged her cheeks.

"Judai-kun is so lucky!" exclaimed Momoe. "Be able to spend a day with Shou-kun and Kaiser Ryou…it's almost like a date!"

Junko blinked and smiled slyly as she crossed her arms.

"You're right," agreed Junko. "It _is_ almost like a date."

Asuka looked at her friends and sighed while Tome just laughed a bit.

"So, have you gotten the pictures?" asked Tomoe.

Asuka blinked and reached into her pocket and handed Tome an unmarked packet. Tome accepted the packet and opened the flap at the top as she looked at one of the many pictures stored inside.

"You girls sure know how to do a good job on Judai-chan!" complimented Tome.

Asuka, Junko, and Momoe nodded as they thanked Tome.

* * *

Meanwhile in Jaden's secret spot,

Shou and Jaden sat by each other on the grass while they leaned back against the big, shady tree. Ryou stood by them, his back against the tree as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes to enjoy the pleasant breeze. Shou had just finished tearing his Curry Bread in half to give the unbitten part to Jaden in return for the Golden Egg Bread she shared with him. Jaden was currently muttering about how everyone knew about her secret spot…well, everyone except Ryou, but still!

"This just defeats the point of being a secret…" said Jaden.

Shou handed Jaden the unbitten half of his Curry Bread, to which she accepted and immediately started eating. He closed his eyes and laughed a bit at her as he lifted his half of Curry Bread to his mouth.

"Maybe if you didn't always come here, it would've stayed a secret!" Shou said before taking a bite out of his bread.

Jaden looked at Shou with one eye open as she chewed and swallowed.

"I think you're right…well, too late for that!" Jaden said as she used both her hands to shove the rest of her Curry Bread half into her mouth.

Shou looked nervously at Jaden, her habit of stuffing her mouth with food beginning to concern him. He should've been used to it by now, but it still made him worry about his Aniki choking on her food. A small tap on his shoulder made the blue-haired Osiris Red look up to see that it was Ryou holding out a water bottle for him. Shou blinked and took the water bottle Ryou gave him.

"T-Thank you, Onii-san," said Shou.

Ryou nodded and returned to looking out at the ocean as Shou twisted the cap on the bottle. Jaden had just swallowed and let out a content sigh when Shou offered her an opened bottle of water. Blinking a few times, she took the bottle and patted Shou on the head.

"Thanks, Shou!" said Jaden. "Hey, want to help me look over the cards I got?"

Shou blinked as Jaden held up the card pack Ryou bought for her. After a few moments, he nodded.

A few moments later,

Jaden poked her tongue out as she carefully opened the card pack. The cards were emptied out of the packet and landed on the skirt of Jaden's dress. Afterwards, Jaden and Shou began to look over the cards. Jaden picked one up and looked at it, inwardly squealing at the cute monster that she got.

"Aww, it's White Magician Pikeru!" exclaimed Jaden.

Shou's curiosity was piqued and he leaned closer to Jaden's side to get a good look at the card in her hand. Sure enough, he also found White Magician Pikeru cute, but not cute enough to match Dark Magician Girl's charm. Ryou overheard Shou and his friend and decided to say something, having known about White Magician Pikeru.

"That's a rather rare card you have right there," said Ryou.

Jaden diverted her eyes at Ryou as Shou continued to look at White Magician Pikeru's card.

"Hm?" she said.

"White Magician Pikeru can increase your life points by 400 points for each monster on your side of the field during your Standby Phase," explained Ryou. "In other words, it's a good card to have on your field while you're in a pinch."

Jaden blinked and looked back at White Magician Pikeru.

"Really?" asked Jaden. "That's sweet!"

Jaden set down White Magician Pikeru and went back to looking at the other cards. After a few seconds, Shou picked up a card and turned it over to look at it. A small blush tinged his cheeks as he stared at the card in his hand. Jaden stared at Shou for a full minute before curiosity got the better of her. She gently grabbed Shou's wrist and pulled it closer to herself to get a good look at the card in his hand.

"Thunder Nyan Nyan…" said Jaden. "She's got a good ATK of 1900."

Jaden looked at Shou, who was still blushing, and realized something. A devious smile formed on her lips as she let go of Shou's wrist.

"You like her, don't you?" asked Jaden.

Shou snapped back into reality and his face burned red as he stuttered. Jaden laughed and shook her head. Ryou looked at them with a faint smile on his lips in amusement.

"I thought you liked Dark Magician Girl, Shou," remarked Ryou.

Shou turned to Ryou and frowned as his own brother was teasing him.

"Onii-san!" whined Shou.

A few moments later after various teasing,

Jaden calmed down and looked at Shou, smiling.

"You can have her, Shou," said Jaden.

Shou turned to Jaden and immediately handed back Thunder Nyan Nyan, not wanting to put up with anymore teasing.

"T-That's okay!" said Shou. "Besides, she's your card."

Jaden blinked and closed her eyes as she placed Thunder Nyan Nyan into the small card stack she made.

"Fine…" she said. "So…wanna duel?"

Shou reached into his pocket and held out his deck.

"Do you have your deck?" asked Shou.

Jaden blinked and was about to search her pockets when she realized something…she didn't have any pockets in this dress and what's more…

"Ra dammit!" swore Jaden. "I left my deck with Asuka!"

Jaden groaned and looked down. Shou patted his Aniki on the back reassuringly.

"It's okay, Judai-kun," said Shou. "We'll think of something…"

Jaden diverted her eyes on Shou and focused her gaze on his glasses.

"Maybe there's another way to pass the time…" said Jaden. "Mine!"

Shou blinked as Jaden snatched his glasses and distanced herself away from him. Oh, not again…

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Ryou diverted his gaze on his younger brother and his friend. It never ceased to amuse him when it came to watching Jaden playing keep-away with Shou's glasses. Especially since his earlier conclusion about Judai really being Jaden with an alias and a mistaken gender was true. Though, this did make it a bit awkward when it came to his assumption when Jaden bumped into him the other day.

"_I'm still glad she wasn't confessing,"_ thought Ryou.

"Aniki, give them back!" exclaimed Shou.

Ryou snapped out of his thoughts and saw that Shou was currently chasing after Jaden for his glasses. Sometimes he wondered why Shou even needed glasses…then again, what Jaden usually wore stuck out like a sore thumb through his younger brother's blurry vision. A pink dress…yeah, definitely screams, "I'm here!" like a red target marker.

After at least an hour full of playing keep-away, Ryou began to wonder where the two first-years had gone. Apparently, Jaden decided to take this game into the forest the secret spot wasn't an exactly safe place, what with being by a cliff and all…Anyways, more to the point, Ryou decided to see what had taken Shou and Jaden long. What he had come across wasn't exactly what he expected…hell! He had to think fast before he ran over to help his brother, Shou.

Apparently, Jaden's dress's long skirt proved its annoyingness by causing her to trip and _almost_ fall into a thorn bush..._almost_ being the keyword had it not been for Shou's quick reaction skills and fortunate accuracy through his blurry vision. Shou was currently pulling on Jaden's dress to keep her from falling into that bush. It happened once before, he wasn't gonna let it happen again!

Thankfully, Ryou helped Shou put by pulling Jaden back…somewhat forcefully, but hey! It got the job done. Jaden yelped as she landed rear-first onto the ground, but for what it was worth, she avoided thorny pain and a visit from Ayukawa (and not to mention another lecture). Ryou sighed and walked over to Jaden as she rubbed her backside. He held out his hand to her and instead of her grabbing onto his hand, Jaden gave him back Shou's glasses. Blinking a few times, he got the feeling Jaden didn't want any help getting off the ground.

Damn straight she didn't! Jaden landed onto the ground too many times to need help from anyone. She was far too stubborn for that…especially since her stubbornness was backed up by her pride. Though, that didn't exactly mean Ryou was going to stop trying and a look from Shou made Jaden think twice before taking Ryou's hand.

Later,

Daichi was somewhat annoyed. He was just walking by and he had happened to come across Asuka and her friends. And for some reason, Asuka gave him the job of giving Jaden back her possessions, which meant he had to go look for her. In the past hour, he had been searching for the gender-mistaken girl. I mean, it wasn't like finding a girl in a pink dress was that hard, right?

He was wrong…_so_, _**so**_ very **wrong**. The only thing he knew was that she was currently with the Kaiser and his younger brother, Shou. Sighing, Daichi decided to start looking for Jaden in her 'secret spot'. Nothing on the top of the Main Academy Building, so that just left the tree…

And coming across a rather calm Ryou standing by a sleeping Shou and Jaden wasn't exactly what Daichi expected to see, but he wasn't complaining. Ryou diverted his eyes on Daichi and arched his eyebrow at the bag the Ra Yellow held in his hand.

"What's that?" asked Ryou.

Daichi held up the bag as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Asuka wanted me to give this to Ja-er, Judai," said Daichi. "Ichiban-kun's deck, PDA, and uniform are in it."

Ryou nodded as Daichi gently nudged Jaden awake. Jaden yawned loudly and stretched her arms, accidentally waking Shou up in the process. Shou rubbed his eyes and turned to his Aniki, who was getting a bag handed to her by Daichi.

"Your deck is in the bag," said Daichi.

Jaden blinked and immediately started looking through the bag for her deck. After a few seconds, she happily exclaimed in joy as she held up her deck.

"Shou, get your deck out!" said Jaden. "We're dueling!"

And that's how Ryou spent the next hour watching his brother and his friend duel. Daichi decided to stay and watch as well, talking a bit with Ryou to pass the time..

"So, have you run into Reizo and Taniguchi, yet?" asked Ryou.

Daichi looked at Ryou before focusing his gaze on Jaden.

"I'm not sure who they are, but I think I might've met them the other day," replied Daichi. "He challenged to a duel where the winner has the right to court Ichiban-kun."

Ryou blinked as a faint, amused smile formed on his lips.

"How did it go?" he asked.

Daichi closed his eyes and shook his head as he answered, "I don't know…he backed out after his friend told him something."

Ryou diverted his eyes on Jaden.

"Jaden is certainly an interesting Osiris Red," said Ryou.

Daichi opened his eyes and looked at Ryou.

"You don't know the half of it," said Daichi. "So, I take it you already found out?"

Ryou shrugged and replied, "Figured it out by how she acted around Shou today despite her different appearance…so, how did you find out?"

Daichi's face burned red at the memory of his discovery. He turned his head away from Ryou as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I rather not talk about it…" said Daichi. "It's something better left unsaid."

Sometime later, Ryou walked the Osiris Reds back to their dorm before making his way towards his respective dorm. Jaden and Shou were greeted by a rather amused Hayato, who was in his bed, the minute they entered the room.

"So, flat-chest actually has some appeal…" said Hayato.

Jaden growled as she closed the door behind her. Shou took off his shoes and immediately backed away from Jaden afterwards. He didn't want to be by her when she snapped…which she just did at this very exact moment.

"Shut it, Koala-man!" snapped Jaden. "I'm not in the mood for this!"

Hayato grinned at Jaden as she kicked off her sandals.

"I never thought you'd ever wear a dress," said Hayato. "Did you buy it yourself?"

Jaden tightened her fist as she walked over to Shou.

"It was a gift…that Junko and Momoe forced me into," said Jaden.

Shou blinked and looked closely at Jaden. Earlier, he had noticed something different about her, but he wasn't too sure and Jaden wouldn't let him ask about it. So now was a good as any to ask…

"Aniki, are you wearing make-up?" asked Shou.

Jaden froze as both Shou and Hayato stared at her. Hayato blinked a few times as he looked at the gender-mistaken girl in disbelief.

"No way…are you serious?" asked Hayato. "Jaden is actually wearing make-up?"

Shou looked closely at Jaden once more and looked up at Hayato.

"Yes," said Shou.

Hayato shook his head and started to climb out of his bunk bed.

"I gotta see this for myself!" said Hayato.

Jaden clenched her teeth and glared at Hayato.

"Don't even think about it, Koala-man!" snapped Jaden. _"I am not in the mood!"_

Hayato ignored Jaden and as a result, he ended up having to chase after her as she avoided him. Though, he managed to corner her when she tried to run out the door only for Daitokuji to block the exit. Jaden looked up at Daitokuji as he looked down at her.

"Hello, Jaden-kun," greeted Daitokuji. "Where do you think you're going-nya?"

Jaden blinked and replied, "My room?"

Daitokuji smiled and ruffled Jaden's hair as he handed her a key and a bottle filled with a clear liquid. Jaden stared questioningly at the items Daitokuji handed her. The professor noticed her confusion and spoke.

"Just thought you'd want the key to your room-nya," said Daitokuji. "As for the bottle…you'll figure it out on your own-nya."

Jaden nodded and smiled at Daitokuji.

"Thanks, Daitokuji-sensei!" she said.

Daitokuji nodded and was about to make his way back to his own room when he stopped and turned to Jaden.

"By the way, you're looking rather cute today-nya," said Daitokuji. "It's a nice look for you…"

And with that said, Daitokuji closed the door behind him. Jaden blinked a few times before being turned around by Hayato to face him. Hayato looked closely at Jaden and smirked.

"So you are wearing make-up!" said Hayato.

Jaden narrowed her eyes and pulled away from Hayato.

"No crap…" she remarked. "Now, I wonder what this bottle's for…"

Jaden looked at the bottle's label and read it. Afterwards, she looked at her nails and found out why Daitokuji gave it to her. And while she spent the next few moments removing the red nail polish painted on her nails, Daitokuji was currently sending certain pictures of a gender-mistaken girl to a certain father of hers. How Jaden's father reacted to pictures of his daughter in various outfits, we will never know. But let's just say… he now had something to show to his coworkers at his job and to his good friends Midori and Kouyou.

In other words, we can interpret this motion as a way for Jaden's father to show off how adorable his daughter could be. And so ended a very eventful Sunday, which meant that was one day closer to Valentine's Day…

"_Might as well figure out how I'm going to do this…"_ Jaden thought as she sighed.

* * *

A/N End of chapter and sorry about the ending…I kinda didn't know how to end it. Anyways, yes, I know it's been ten days since the last update, but I was busy! I have less than a week of vacation, chores, and distractions like trying to make the most of my remaining vacation time. Anyways, credit goes to **Hestic** for giving me the idea to have Jaden dressed up in various outfits, have the girls take pictures of her in those outfits, and have Daitokuji somehow get a hold of some of these pictures to send to Jaden's father. Yup! That was all **Hestic** idea!

Now aside from that, I would like to say something…does anyone bother reading these A/N's? I swear! When I say if you want to know when the next chapter will be up, gugure kasu, I mean, "Go Google it!" That means I'm not answering! And please don't ask me about the plot or who will end up with Jaden!

I'm keeping pairings secret for a reason and that's so I don't focus much on them! Besides, it's too early in the story to even THINK about pairings! Now quit asking, or I'll start ignoring you…sheesh, I think I know how LittleKuriboh feels like when people ask him when the next episode will be up, which episode 48 was uploaded just six days ago. Best episode ever…well, all of them are, but whatever! Well, now that I'm done ranting…

(1) A little reference to DarkSideIncorporated's _Yu-Gi-Oh GX the Abridged series_…you know? The "Eavesdropping is so much fun!" part…yeah…

(2) Got the adjusting the cheongsam's slit and some dialogue off of episode 5 of _Maburaho_, which is an anime I found interesting except for the ending and my friends and me would all agree…the ending sucked.

(3) No, I'm not referring to _that_ Kami-sama…why would Haruhi Suzumiya be in _Yu-Gi-Oh GX_, anyways? Exactly! No, it's not me in Haruhi cosplay, either. I'm only Kami-sama when I'm with my friends and that's it…okay, maybe it was me a bit, but that was because I was typing it and I was referring to Osiris! Ugh…

Anyways, as you can see there was foreshadowing in the chapter about the next one and also…I'd like to thank **Yuri n' Chuka** for being Reviewer #50! I would like to also thank **A Neverending Dream of Flight**, **heartlessneko**, **Layne Locket**, **WoNdY Alice** especially, BTW, I LOVE your stories! Anyways, where was I? Oh right! **Luving Randomness**, **PrincessAnime08**,** Hestic **(again), **Yuri n' Chuka** (again),** digiwriter1392**, **Lightmagegirl4437**, **ThePathUntaken**, **nekozr**, and **TyKaXLoves** for all helping me reach 56 reviews in the past month this story's been in existence! I feel special knowing you guys love my story! If I forgot anyone, please tell me in a review since I'm rushing through this a bit…I have chores, dammit! DX Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter and PLEASE don't ask me when the next chapter will be up! Also, NO FLAMES! You already know the drill! Constructive criticism is always welcomed, and reviews are just things that make me happy! And sorry if anyone was OOC!

Now, I must go and do my job and clean up my house…oh, this is rather ironic being Super Daichi's maid, also… **heartlessneko**, you're needed as a sidekick at the current moment! XD Okay now wait patiently for the next chapter!


	17. Turn 17

Chapter Seventeen

When They Helped Out

It had been approximately fourteen days after that Sunday, during which the first four days, Jaden had created a record for herself involving the Golden Egg Bread and took one day off from buying Drawbread to give someone else a chance to get the rare bread. However, after that day…well…

The moment the lunch bell rang, Shou had to pick up the pace to chase after his Aniki since she wasn't exactly going to stop for anyone at this moment. Shou sighed as he ran after Jaden down the hall as she made her way towards the store.

"Wait up, Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden didn't bother looking back as she continued running. Nine days…nine days and nothing…

"It's today!" said Jaden. "It has to be today!"

Shou sighed once more and quickened his pace to catch up to Jaden. A few moments later, both Osiris Reds were standing in front of the Drawbread cart, looking left to right at the unmarked packages. Out of all of them, only one was the Golden Egg Bread, which Jaden had made a small record known to her friends and Tome. For ten days straight in a row, she had gotten the Golden Egg Bread each time. It was enough to earn her the title, 'King of the Golden Egg Bread', or rather in Shou's opinion since Asuka wasn't just going to go as far as to calling her friend by that.

Asuka knew better and by that, she was slightly jealous since she had an affinity for the rare bread made from the single golden egg laid by the Duel Academy's golden hen. Out of all the days she had spent in Duel Academy, she had never once drawn the Golden Egg Bread. Jaden had been generous enough to share half with anyone of her friends who happened to be by her when she'd drawn the bread. Asuka had usually been the one to get that half most of the times when she was by the cart.

More to the point, Asuka had bought two packages today and nothing…

"_Why can't I draw it?"_ thought Asuka.

Asuka sighed and looked around. She stopped when she spotted Jaden and Shou by the Drawbread cart. A small glimmer of hope filled the dark-blonde as she watched Jaden reach in into the cart.

"_Maybe…maybe this time…"_ thought Asuka.

Shou watched his Aniki open the package she chose and held his breath when she bit into it. Jaden's irises shrunk as she let out a subtle groan before falling onto her knees despondently. She looked down and frowned as she slumped over a bit.

"It's Chestnut Bread…" she lamented.

Shou bent over a bit and placed his hands on his knees as he looked down at Jaden. He frowned a bit as with the past nine days plus with today; it had become a total of ten days since Jaden had last drawn the Golden Egg Bread.

"Now you've been off 10 times in a row, huh?" said Shou. "What's going on, Aniki?"

Asuka overheard Jaden and sighed in dismay as she walked over to the Osiris Red and her friend. It was rather strange, though… Jaden had a knack at drawing the Golden Egg Bread from the moment Tome introduced her to the cart. Sometimes she got it, other times she didn't, but that was when she wasn't buying Drawbread. That still bugged Asuka slightly as she usually bought two or three packages of Drawbread from the cart and still nothing. She was lucky enough to have Jaden around to keep anyone from suspecting her liking for the rare bread.

"Nothing again…?" asked Asuka.

Jaden and Shou turned their heads to the dark-blonde Obelisk Blue.

"Asuka-san!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden blinked when she noticed the two opened packages of Drawbread in Asuka's hands. Jaden got off the floor after handing Shou her Chestnut Bread and adjusted her shirt a bit before focusing her gaze back on Asuka.

"Asuka!" Jaden said, her tone turning into a rather amused one as she continued on, "You like the Golden Egg Bread, huh? Any luck?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Asuka's face as a rosy blush tinged her cheeks.

"D-Don't talk nonsense!" Asuka said, stuttering slightly. "I'm just practicing my luck of the draw…"

Jaden placed her hand on her chin as she grinned at Asuka, causing the dark-blonde to trail off.

"Eh?" said Jaden. "Is that so?"

Asuka tightened her grip on her Drawbread slightly as she scowled at Jaden.

"I-It's true!" she snapped.

Jaden laughed a bit as Asuka glared at her while Shou just stared at them. Tome had overheard them and having been the one who usually ran the Drawbread cart, she decided to tell them about her observation and discovery.

"I'm really sorry, everyone," said Tome. "To tell you the truth, there isn't a Golden Egg Bread in there."

Shou and Jaden's eyes widened in shock as they exclaimed, "E-Eehh?"

As much as Asuka wanted to exclaim out in shock like her friends did, she forced herself to stay quiet and calm. Tome looked at them apologetically as she explained.

"Somehow, the Golden Egg Bread has been getting stolen," explained Tome. "It's been like that every day since last week."

Jaden, Shou, and Asuka looked at Tome questioningly.

"Stolen?" said Asuka.

Shou blinked and exhaled in awe.

"Amazing…if he just stole the Golden Egg Bread, he's got to have an amazing luck of the draw!" remarked Shou.

Jaden grunted and narrowed her eyes at Shou as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. Shou jolted slightly at the glare his Aniki gave him. Maybe he shouldn't have said that…

"And everyone was looking forward to them, too…" Tome said, bowing apologetically afterwards. "Please, accept my apologies."

Jaden blinked and tightened her fists as she looked at Tome.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Tome-san!" said Jaden. "The bad guy's the thief! That's why I'm going to catch him!"

Shou smiled at Jaden.

"Yo, that's the way, Aniki!" said Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou, her expression serious for once.

"Shou!" said Jaden. "From today on, we're staking out! You go get Hayato! I'm gonna pay Ra Yellow a visit!"

Shou closed his eyes and nodded as he smiled.

"Right!" said Shou.

It took him a few seconds to realize what he had just gotten himself into. Shou opened his eyes as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. He sighed and started to make his way towards the Osiris Red dorms, seeing as Jaden had already dashed out of the store. Asuka shook her head and decided to head back to her dorm to pack some things for tonight's stake out. She wasn't just gonna let that stolen Golden Egg Bread slide…

* * *

Later,

Jaden avoided the stares given to her as she searched everywhere on Ra Yellow campus. It wasn't that Ra Yellow students had superiority-complexes like some Obelisk Blues…it's just that by searching everywhere, I mean _everywhere_. Like up in a tree, under a rock, and maybe behind a bush…yeah, this went on for ten minutes before Jaden gave in and asked the closest Ra Yellows by her where the person she was looking for was.

Kohara and Ohara were slightly surprised to see Jaden walk up to them an immediately ask where Daichi Misawa was. Fortunately, they happened to know exactly where his location was…which was—

"Misawa-kun's in his room," answered Ohara.

Jaden sweat dropped.

"His room…?" said Jaden. "Well, I just wasted ten minutes of my life searching for him…by the way, how's your dueling doing, Kohara?"

Kohara blinked and looked at Jaden for a few seconds before he smiled.

"Better, Jaden!" said Kohara. "I don't get so nervous anymore when I duel in the open!"

Jaden grinned and ruffled Kohara's hair.

"That's good to hear!" said Jaden. "Well, I gotta go get Misawa…see ya around!"

Jaden waved at the Ra Yellow duo and started to walk away after they waved back at her. Ohara and Kohara watched as Jaden made her way towards the Ra Yellow dorm. A few moments had passed when Ohara noticed a slight blush on his smaller friend's cheeks and chuckled a bit.

"Taken a liking to Jaden-kun, eh, Kohara-kun?" asked Ohara.

Kohara's face burned red after hearing Ohara's question. He turned to the larger Ra Yellow and scowled at him.

"S-Shut up, Ohara!" snapped Kohara.

Ohara laughed and patted Kohara on the head as the smaller boy crossed his arms and turned away from him.

* * *

A few moments later in Daichi's room,

Daichi was currently toweling his hair after paying a visit to the Ra Yellow bathhouse when suddenly, Jaden barged into his room. Jaden didn't even bother knocking on her friend's door so as a result…she scared the living daylights out of Daichi. As Daichi tried to calm his pounding heart, Jaden walked up to him and pulled on the sleeve to his blue and white sweatshirt.

"Misawa, get packing!" said Jaden. "We're going on a stake out at Tome-san's store! Someone's stealing the Golden Egg Bread!"

Daichi blinked as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"Um…may I ask why I have to go along?" asked Daichi.

Jaden closed her eyes and crossed her arms as she held her finger up.

"You're the smart one, Misawa," Jaden said as a matter of fact. "We'll need you to help with our investigation!"

Jaden opened her eyes and started pulling on Daichi's arm.

"Now, let's go!" said Jaden. "C'mon!"

Jaden struggled to drag Daichi, who wasn't exactly willing enough to follow the Osiris Red. It took Jaden a full three minutes to let go of Daichi after realizing he wasn't going to follow along. She glared at Daichi and placed her hands on her hips.

"Misawa, what's taking you?" asked Jaden.

Daichi looked at Jaden and sighed. She wasn't gonna let him be…

"Can I at least change into something more appropriate?" asked Daichi.

Jaden blinked and nodded.

A few moments later,

Daichi had to push Jaden out of his room when she didn't understand the concept of his privacy until he reminded her that he was male and she was female and despite her not minding, he did. After a few minutes, Daichi walked out of his room, now wearing his Ra Yellow uniform and carrying a small bag. He placed his hand on top of Jaden's head and ruffled her hair.

"Ichiban-kun…please don't tell me you forgot your gender," said Daichi.

Jaden blinked and shook her head.

"I didn't!" said Jaden. "I just didn't think you'd mind…sorry."

Daichi sighed and placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder as he began to lead her out of the Ra Yellow dorm.

"It's okay, Jaden…it's okay," said Daichi.

* * *

Later that night,

The store was rather empty and dark, save for the Drawbread cart that was left out to lure out the Golden Egg Bread thief and the current group in the staffroom. Shou, Hayato, and Daichi sat on the opposite side of the table, facing Jaden. Asuka was reading a book as she sat in front of a computer in a desk chair with one leg crossed over the other. They had been waiting in that room for the past five hours after Tome had closed the store.

So to pass the time (for the moment), Shou and Jaden decided to play a game just to take a break from dueling for once. Not that they were tired of dueling, they just needed to do something else…

Shou was currently holding up two cards in his hands. He clenched his teeth as he nervously watched Jaden move her hand over to one of the cards in his hands. Jaden laughed deviously as she smirked and picked a card.

"That one!" she said, turning it over onto the table.

Jaden looked at the card and threw her hands up into the air as smiled ecstatically.

"All right!" exclaimed Jaden.

Shou sighed and looked at Jaden.

"Geez…your draws are amazing, all right, Aniki," remarked Shou.

Daichi nodded in agreement.

"Indeed," he said.

Jaden grinned widely as she crossed her arms.

"Of course they are!" said Jaden.

Hayato blinked and looked questioningly at Jaden.

"Why did I even have to be here?" asked Hayato.

Jaden looked at Hayato and replied, "If we suffer, you suffer…as your roommate, I am not leaving you alone in our room without us!"

Daichi looked at Jaden questioningly.

"Ichiban-kun, what was the point of even having a room constructed for you when you don't even use it?" asked Daichi.

Jaden closed her eyes and turned away from Daichi.

"I use it…just the bathhouse, though," said Jaden. "When I'm not using the hot springs…that is…anyways, it's also for Tome-san. Hold on…"

Jaden turned to Asuka as the dark-blonde continued reading her book.

"I only invited Hayato and Misawa over…" said Jaden. "Asuka, why are you here?"

Asuka diverted her eyes on Jaden.

"Because I'm free," she replied.

Jaden blinked and placed her hand by the side of her mouth as she whispered to Shou.

"She can't forgive that Golden Egg Bread drawing thief," whispered Jaden.

Shou's eyes widened as he realized Asuka could hear Jaden. He leaned closer to Jaden as he whispered back, "She can hear you, Aniki!"

Asuka just continued reading her book. She already knew how to get back at Jaden…in many ways (A/N *cough*Junko*cough*Momoe*cough* Wow, I really need to drink some water. XD).

"_It'd be especially strange if it was one of the Academy's students stealing,"_ thought Asuka. _"Maybe it has to do with the missing…"_

Asuka turned her head at the sound of the door sliding open to see who it was coming in. It was Tome and she was holding a plate full of rice balls she had just finished making for the group.

"Thank you very much, everyone," Tome said, smiling as she set the plate down. "Here's your midnight snack."

Jaden looked at the plate and smiled as she stood up. Shou, Hayato, and Daichi did the same as Asuka walked over to the table.

"Looks great!" remarked Jaden.

Hayato looked curiously at the rice balls.

"Whoa, what flavors are they?" asked Hayato.

"They're apricot, dried fish cracker, and salmon-flavored," Tome replied as she looked at them. "Eat these and keep it up. I'll stay with you tonight."

Shou blinked and smiled at Tome.

"Thanks, Tome-san!" said Shou.

Hayato looked eagerly at the rice balls, wondering which one was which of the types Tome had mentioned. The rice balls were identical in appearance, differing only in filling.

"Which one's salmon?" asked Hayato.

Tome was about to tell Hayato when Jaden interrupted her.

"Wait!" said Jaden. "We should draw them. I like salmon, too. We'll take turns and draw."

Hayato looked questioningly at Jaden.

"Huh?" he said. "Shouldn't we just split them between everyone?"

Shou looked at Hayato.

"But it sounds interesting!" said Shou.

Asuka crossed her arms and remarked, "Sound boring."

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Asuka.

"C'mon, Asuka…at least try it!" Jaden said before focusing her gaze on the rice balls. "My turn! Draw!"

Jaden picked up a random rice ball from the plate and lifted it up to her mouth. She took a bite out of it and chewed slowly before swallowing. She looked at her friends and smiled as she closed her eyes.

"I summon Salmon," she said as she showed them the rice ball's distinct red-colored filling.

Shou smiled at Jaden, impressed with her luck.

"Your draws are really awesome, Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden opened her eyes and looked at Shou as she placed her hand on her hip.

"My skills couldn't be worse," said Jaden. "If those Golden Egg Breads weren't stolen, I would've broken my record, you know…so, any ideas, Misawa?"

Everyone turned to Daichi as he cleared his throat.

"Well, there is one idea we can try…" said Daichi. "But we'll need Jaden or Shou to do it."

Shou looked at Daichi, perplexed.

"Eh?" said Shou. "Why does it have to be us?"

Daichi walked over to Shou and Jaden before pulling both Osiris Reds closer to each other.

"As you can see, you two are of a smaller size than the rest of us," stated Daichi.

Jaden looked questioningly at Daichi.

"And what does size have to do with this?" Jaden asked before taking another bite out of her rice ball.

Daichi smiled and said, "I was getting to that point…"

"Well, then get to the point!" said Jaden.

Daichi patted Jaden on the head as he got to the point.

"We'll need one of you two to hide in the Drawbread cart," said Daichi. "Any volunteers from you two?"

Jaden raised her hand up in the air, to which Shou sighed in relief for. He didn't want to be the one who hid in the cart…

Later,

After helping Jaden hide into the Drawbread, everyone else turned off the light in the staff room and hid. Asuka hid in a half-opened locker, Tome hid under the computer desk, and Daichi, Hayato, and Shou all hid under a table. It had only been a full minute and Jaden was already bored…Thankfully, Winged Kuriboh kept her entertained as she gently scratched him in between his wings.

"_This never gets old…"_ Jaden thought as Winged Kuriboh nuzzled against her affectionately.

A sudden sound caused Jaden to freeze and stop what she was doing as she quickly double checked to see if she was well hidden under all the Drawbread packages. Winged Kuriboh helped his partner out by adjusting a few packages before diving back under with her.

At the sound of someone opening the store shutter, Tome, Daichi, Hayato, Shou, and Asuka carefully got out of their hiding places. They crept up to the staff room's glass door and looked through it. The noise continued as the store's shutter was lifted up, shocking Shou, Hayato, and Daichi as whoever was lifting it up had to be very strong.

Once the store's shutter was lifted up to a certain point, someone crept under and into the store. He walked over to the Drawbread cart and reached in, startling Jaden a bit as she covered her mouth with her hands to keep herself from shrieking. Winged Kuriboh huddled closer to Jaden as they both backed up a bit since whoever was reaching in…almost came in contact with them.

"_That was too close for comfort!"_ Jaden thought as she held her breath. _"Need…air…"_

Luckily for Jaden (and her lungs), the person who was reaching into the packages chose one and pulled it out. Jaden inhaled and exhaled before slowly peeking out from under the packages. It was at that exact moment, the lights suddenly turned on and Jaden got a good look at the Golden Egg Bread thief. The thief was tall, muscular young man with long, black hair and brown eyes. He was barefooted, wore pants or what seemed to be left of them, and the thing that got Jaden's attention the most and made her yelp and cover her eyes was…

"_Oh, dear Ra, he's shirtless!"_ Jaden thought as her face burned red.

Daichi, Shou, and Hayato ran out from behind the counter to confront the shirtless young man. Tome and Asuka joined them not long after.

"Hey!" exclaimed Shou. "You thief!"

"You can't get away, now!" said Daichi.

Tome gasped as she got a good look at the young man. The young man grunted and cupped his hand around his mouth as he let out a Tarzan-like yell. This got Jaden to snap out of her embarrassment and shock as the young man started pushing the Drawbread cart down the aisle. Jaden's eyes widened as she yelped and dived back under the packages as the young men hopped onto the cart. The cart headed towards the store shutter at an immense speed and force, that when it collided with the metal overhead door, it crash right through it! Jaden had a bad feeling about this as the Drawbread the young man had gotten, fell into her possession.

Feeling rather panicky and not thinking quite right at the moment, Jaden stuffed the Drawbread into her shirt and buttoned up her jacket for once. The young man spotted that there had been a stowaway on the cart as it was now headed towards a tree. He reacted quickly to this by grabbing onto the back of Jaden's jacket and jumped off the cart before it collided with the tree.

Despite avoiding pain and possible injuries, Jaden was not relieved as she was held up by the back her jacket by the young man, slightly hanging above the ground. Hell! She took one looked at the guy and let out a high-pitched scream. This immediately got the attention of her friends and took the young man by surprise…especially since she started yelling.

"Help!" yelled Jaden. "I'm being kidnapped by Tarzan!"

First reaction a person would do when they see a group of people running towards him while he's holding a screaming person would be to run…which is what the shirtless young man did. This angered Hayato and Shou…_especially_ Shou as he started yelling after the Golden Egg Bread thief. That was _his_ Aniki getting kidnapped by Tarzan! Why shouldn't he be angry? Exactly!

As the chase for the Golden Egg Bread thief who currently had Jaden in his possession began…currently doing night rounds for Professor Chronos, was Ryou. Ryou had been walking around in front of the Main Academy Building when he saw something that you rarely see every day…seriously. The Kaiser watched as a muscular, shirtless young man ran past him, carrying a yelling Jaden over his shoulder.

"AAAAHHH—HELP!" yelled Jaden. "I'm being kidnapped by Tarzan! I need an adult! I NEED AN ADULT!" (1)

Anyone within earshot that heard that all did one thing…they sweat dropped. Not long after, Ryou saw something he rarely ever saw…a rather angry Shou, swearing as he chased after 'Tarzan' and Jaden.

"Get your ass back here with my Aniki, you bastard!" yelled Shou.

Blinking a few times as Hayato, Asuka, Daichi, and Tome ran past him, Ryou shook his head and decided to end his night rounds as he made his way back to his dorm, muttering about not getting enough sleep. (2)

As the group ran after 'Tarzan', Asuka couldn't help but think if he was one of the missing students.

"_He might know where my Nii-san is!"_ thought Asuka.

Jaden continued to yell as the Golden Egg Bread thief came to a stop on top of a Duel Academy building…only for him to jump off of it. This caused Jaden to let out a high-pitched scream while her eyes widened as she and 'Tarzan' headed straight downwards to the forest below them. Anyone in her position would scream, too, if they had just jumped off from a high height. Jaden shut her eyes as her kidnapper began to swing from vine to vine.

"I am _so_ going to complain about this later!" yelled Jaden.

Back with the group, Shou stopped by the edge of the building and stomped his foot on the ground as he gritted his teeth. Hayato placed his hand on Shou's shoulder as he watched Jaden get carried off as her kidnapper let out another Tarzan-like yell. This was bad…ohh, if Daitokuji ever found out about this…

Daichi shuddered at the thought, which is what Hayato did as well. They were held fully responsible over their friend, having been older than her and also her senpai. As much as Hayato was still in the same rank as she was, he still counted as her senior.

"What's with him?" asked Hayato. "Is he Tarzan?"

A/N Thou shalt be referred to as 'Tarzan' by thy fellow authoress until otherwise…

Shou tightened his fists and held them up as he scowled.

"We'll get there before he does!" Shou yelled as he turned and ran off into a different direction. "I'm coming for you, Aniki!"

Daichi and Hayato jolted slightly before they trailed after Shou with Tome and Asuka following them.

"Shou!" they called out.

Meanwhile,

Jaden was still yelling as she pounded on her kidnapper's back. She didn't really like the fact that she was just _kidnapped_ by _freaking_ _**Tarzan**_! This was just like something out of a bad fanfic! (3) Jaden pounded her fist onto Tarzan's back, earning a rather pained yelp from him. Well…that got his attention…

"You Tarzan, me not Jane!" yelled Jaden. "What value does a person like me even have?"

No answer…ugh! Jaden closed her eyes and whined as she continued pounding her fists on her kidnapper's back.

"Put me down!" yelled Jaden. "Put me down! Put me down! Put me down!"

Jaden yelled and brought both her fists down onto Tarzan's back. Feeling very irritated from being ignored as her kidnapper continued to swing from vine to vine, Jaden growled and elbowed Tarzan forcefully on his back. This caused him to let out a pained yelp as he came to an abrupt stop on a vine. Jaden immediately regretted ever doing that as she fell off Tarzan's shoulder and headed towards the ground.

"_Why the hell did I just do that?"_ thought Jaden.

Luckily for Jaden, Tarzan grabbed onto her arm and began to pull her up until he got a good grip on the back of her jacket. Jaden opened her eyes and looked down where she was hanging above and just her luck as it happened to be…_thorn bushes_. Jaden yelled and flailed her arms around before she managed to pull herself up her kidnapper's arm before latching onto his back.

Afterwards, she gave up on yelling as Tarzan continued to swing from vine to vine…that was waaay too close for comfort! The last thing Jaden needed was a visit from Ayukawa in the middle of the night…

Tarzan let out another yell as he moved onto the next vine. His eyes widened when he spotted Asuka, Daichi, Shou, and Hayato walking just right outside of the forest on a pathway…which is where he was heading towards on the vine! Jaden blinked and started to unbutton her jacket when she spotted her friends close by. However, Tarzan took Jaden by surprise as he let go of the vine and jumped past the group, causing her to stop what she was doing to keep a good grip on him. He landed on the ground and starting running towards a small waterfall afterwards, which by then, had caught the attention of the group.

Shou immediately started running after Tarzan, who was still carrying Jaden on his back.

"ANIKI!" yelled Shou.

Jaden looked back at Shou and unbuttoned her jacket quickly to get the Drawbread packaged she stuff under her shirt out. She had just gotten the package out of her shirt when Tarzan leapt up and grabbed onto a ledge on the waterfall with both his hands. Since Jaden had not been expecting this, it wasn't a surprise she fell off of her kidnapper's back and into the water below them. Jaden had managed to throw the package to Shou (which he caught) just before she landed into the water.

SPLASH!

"Aniki!" yelled Shou.

Shou ran towards Jaden as her head popped out of the water to inhale deeply. Meanwhile, Daichi, Asuka, and Hayato were awestruck as they watched Tarzan _climb_ up the _waterfall_. That right there was impressive.

"H-He's climbing the waterfall!" Hayato said in awe.

Tarzan picked up the pace and started to climb up the waterfall faster. Jaden coughed a bit and shook her head before she looked up at Tarzan, scowling at him. Just as she was about ready to chase after him herself, a sudden voice called out to him.

"Taizan-kun!" a voice called out.

Tarzan immediately stopped where he was at the near top of the waterfall as everyone turned to see who had called out. Running towards them at an impressive pace, was Tome, who had been left behind by the group in their haste. Tome looked at the young man on the waterfall and gasped.

"Tome-san?" said Daichi.

"T-Tome-san, you ran fast," remarked Hayato.

Tome kept her gaze on Tarzan (A/N Just bear with me and that name…).

"You're Taizan-kun, aren't you?" asked Tome.

Tarzan, or Taizan, as Tome had been calling him by, slowly turned his head towards the older woman. Doing so, he managed to lose his grip on the ledges behind the waterfall and fell down into the water…right where Jaden was. Jaden's eyes widened as she stuttered and flailed her arms while she tried to figure out what she should do to avoid being landed on. She was just about to jump out of the way, but by then, it had been too late as Taizan landed right on top of her.

SPLASH!

Shou gasped and called out, "Aniki!"

A few moments had passed before Taizan and Jaden popped out of the water, both inhaling deeply as Shou, Daichi, Asuka, Hayato, and Tome ran over to them. Jaden coughed a few times before turning to Taizan and glaring at him. Winged Kuriboh appeared and perched himself on his partner's shoulder as he took out what seemed to be a contract.

"_Kuri kuri…"_ Winged Kuriboh thought as he read over his contract. (4)

Tome looked over Taizan to confirm her earlier assumption about the young man.

"I knew it!" she said. "Taizan-kun!"

Hayato diverted his eyes on Tome, misunderstanding slightly of what she said about the young man's name.

"So, he _was_ Tarzan!" said Hayato.

Jaden growled and punched Taizan in the stomach. Taizan yelped and clutched his stomach with one hand while he placed his other hand on Jaden's forehead to keep him (he doesn't know~!) at a distance as he continued to swipe at him. For a rather scrawny boy, he could punch…

"I demand an explanation as to why I was kidnapped by Tarzan!" yelled Jaden.

Taizan looked at Tome.

"Tome-san!" he said. "It has been a while."

If one would seem to recall…Tarzan never knew how to speak perfectly at first…which is why Hayato pointed this out.

"He's speaking perfectly," said Hayato.

So much for being kidnapped by Tarzan…though, this still irritated Jaden! She still hadn't gotten her explanation!

Daichi, Asuka, Hayato, and Shou turned to Tome since she seemed to have known something about Taizan.

"Tome-san, who is he?" asked Daichi.

"Taira Taizan-kun," replied Tome. "He was an Obelisk Blue student."

The fact that Taizan was an Obelisk Blue student took the group by surprise…though that didn't mean Jaden was stopping her current actions for that! She continued to swipe at Taizan as she growled while Tome went on.

"He was an outstanding student, but a year ago, he suddenly went missing," explained Tome. "And so, to think he was somewhere like this…"

Asuka stared at Taizan.

"_So, he is a missing student!"_ thought Asuka.

"But Taizan-kun, you drew a lot of Golden Egg Breads, didn't you?" questioned Tome. "A year ago, no matter how hard you tried…"

Taizan stuttered and flailed his arms about as he looked nervously at Tome. Jaden had stopped to listen as her curiosity got the better of her.

"What do you mean, Tome-san?" asked Jaden.

Tome smiled and looked at Taizan and Jaden.

"Just like you and the others, Jaden-chan, when Taizan-kun came to the store, he often bought some Drawbread, too," said Tome.

* * *

~flashback~

_In the store by the Drawbread cart, Tome was watching a few students, one Ra Yellow, two Osiris Reds, and two Obelisk Blues, pick out each a random unmarked package. Tome kept her gaze focused on a certain Obelisk Blue student as he pulled out and opened a Drawbread package. It was Taizan, though compared to how he looked now than back then, he was somewhat scrawny and his black hair was at a shorter length._

_Taizan lifted up the opened Drawbread to his mouth and bit into it, chewing slowly a few times to differentiate the taste. He swallowed and looked up in dismay as he lamented his pick._

"_A Fish Bread…" he said before he fell onto his knees despondently._

_Tome felt a newfound sympathy for Taizan at how disappointed he looked by his bad draw._

~end of flashback~

* * *

Jaden blinked and looked at Taizan.

"But this guy's draws are amazing," said Jaden. "Wasn't it someone else?"

Taizan laughed as he got out of the river. After a few moments, he calmed down and looked at the group, grinning.

"Yes, that's right," said Taizan. "I was reborn. In this one year, I confined myself in the mountains and practiced drawing."

Jaden looked at Taizan questioningly and said, "You were reborn?"

Taizan looked down and closed his eyes.

"That's right," said Taizan. "Before, I always got the top grade on the Obelisk Blue written exam. But when it came to actual combat…"

* * *

~flashback~

_In the Duel Fields, Taizan was dueling another student. He held up his fist as he looked at his hand, smiling._

"I'm facing Psycho Shocker…"_ he thought before reaching for his deck. "Okay. Draw!"_

_Taizan drew a card and looked at it, immediately bemoaning his luck._

"_No way!" exclaimed Taizan. "Man, a Trap card? It won't be any help against Psycho Shocker!"_

~end of flashback~

* * *

Taizan tightened his fists as he looked at the group.

"My draws back then were the worst!" he admitted.

* * *

~flashback~ (5)

_Taizan sat on one of the mooring bollards on the docks as he looked down at the crashing waves, depressed._

"**I wished for draws…" said Taizan. "That's what I wanted from the bottom of my heart!"**

_Taizan stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth as he stared out into the ocean._

"_Please give me powerful draws!" yelled Taizan._

_His voice echoed a bit as he continued to stare out._

"**I didn't get an answer," said Taizan. "All I gathered from the waves was just to draw. It was the same before, and it wouldn't change in the future or for eternity. (?) And it was then that I figured it out!"**

_Taizan's eyes widened as he looked down at the waves._

"**That it was just like drawing in a duel," he explained. "Draws also don't change, just like the waves. I thought, 'The true meaning of drawing lies in nature itself!'"**

~end of flashback~

* * *

Asuka stared at Taizan.

"_I was wrong about this guy…"_ thought Asuka.

"And I confined myself to the mountains," Taizan continued on. "I gave myself to nature, and I gained wisdom from nature. I became one with nature. To get stronger draws, I trained for one year!"

Memories of his training popped up in Taizan's mind. Training that involved treading through snow, testing his drawing ability with variously poisonous mushrooms, and practicing his drawing by letting his cards flow down the waterfall and picking out the strongest ones. Taizan closed his eyes and held up his fist.

"And to be sure that I'd completed my training, I used the Golden Egg Bread to test myself," Taizan said as he opened his eyes and smiled. "And I got it for a full week!"

Taizan used his arm to cover his face as he looked down, getting somewhat emotional at drawing the Golden Egg Bread. All that hard work…and he finally drew it…

"I really hung in there!" he wailed.

Tome clasped her hands together as she looked at Taizan.

"That must have been awful!" said Tome.

Jaden blinked and looked at Taizan as he sobbed.

"Wait a sec!" said Jaden. "Before you stole them, I got them too!"

Taizan stopped sobbing and looked down at Jaden, perplexed.

"What?" he asked.

Jaden smiled and said, "Well? I'm pretty confident in my own draws, too."

Jaden started to climb out of the river as she continued on and suggested, "So, how about you just fight me, and we'll make it a graduation exam?"

Taizan blinked and gave Jaden an amused smile.

"Interesting," he said. "I've wanted to test my luck of the draw in a duel."

Jaden grunted, having almost slipped on a wet rock as she tried to climb out of the river. Taizan helped her out by pulling her up and setting her on the ground standing up. Jaden shook her head and looked at Taizan, who was currently staring wide-eyed at her for some reason.

"All right, then let's do it!" Jaden said as she smiled and held up her fist.

Shou looked at Jaden as he carefully hopped over to the other side of the river.

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Hayato just stared at Jaden and said, "Don't say anything, don't say anything…"

Asuka face palmed while Daichi just sighed and shook his head. This was rather…expected. It was so expectant, that it was rather depressing…it just showed how predictable Jaden could be. Tome, on the other hand, just smiled as she clasped her hands together.

Jaden continued to look at Taizan, who just stayed silent as he stared at her.

"_We'll be matching draws, huh?" _thought Jaden. _"Looks like this'll be an interesting duel!"_

Jaden blinked when she realized that Taizan still hadn't said anything. She tilted her head to the side as she looked at him, noticing his wide-eyed stare on her as his face burned red.

"Uh…Taizan?" said Jaden.

Taizan yelped and immediately turned away from Jaden as he covered his face. Jaden arched her eyebrow at him as she scratched the back of her head. She turned to Shou, confused as to why Taizan did that. Shou looked at Jaden and his face turned red as he immediately covered his eyes.

"Shou…what's wrong?" asked Jaden.

Shou turned away from Jaden and replied, "Aniki…your shirt…"

Jaden blinked and looked down at her shirt. Her face burned red in embarrassment as she let out a high-pitched shriek and pulled her jacket closed. Of all the days…of **all **the days she had to be wearing a _white_ shirt…

"_It had to be today!"_ she thought as she carefully buttoned up her jacket.

Normally, Jaden would wear a black shirt with her uniform, but today she had been in a bit of a rush after getting out of the bathhouse and grabbed the closest shirt in her dresser and pulled it on. It just so happened that the shirt she pulled on was a white one and since she fell into the river…well, one can figure out what both Taizan and Shou had seen. At least Taizan now knew that Jaden was a girl…

"_That explains why she was screaming and making those 'Jane' references…"_ thought Taizan. _"That makes perfect sense!"_

Jaden turned to Shou after she had finished buttoning her jacket. Her face was still red as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I'm really sorry about that, Shou!" Jaden apologized. "I didn't mean to…"

Shou just shook his head and kept his eyes covered.

"I-It's okay, Aniki!" said Shou. "It wasn't your fault…"

Jaden closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before exhaling. That was the most embarrassing thing in her life…at least she was wearing a bra, so the damage done to her dignity wasn't _that_ bad. Now that she thought about it, it could've been worse…

"_It's could've been Hayato instead of Shou and Taizan…"_ thought Jaden. _"Actually…no, he'd still call me 'flat chest'…"_

Of course he would, Hayato was only doing his job as acting like an older brother to his Imouto-chan, Jaden. Now that that was settled, Jaden recovered from her embarrassment rather quickly.

A few moments later,

Taizan and Jaden faced each other on opposite sides of the field with their duel disk on their arms.

"Duel!" they said.

Their duel disks activated and reached for their decks as they drew their starting hand.

Taizan:

LP

4000

Jaden:

LP

4000

"We'll go with me first!" said Jaden. "And don't object! You owe me for kidnapping me…"

Taizan just stayed silent as Jaden reached for her deck and drew a card. She made a good point…despite the whole thing being an accident. Taizan had never meant to kidnap her in the first place, it just happened!

"Draw!" Jaden said as she briefly looked at the card she drew. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!"

A certain winged man clad in green appeared on the field by punching the air a few times before spinning around once.

ATK 1000

"I'll set one card face-down, finishing my turn," Jaden said as she placed a card into the slot. "Show me your draws!"

Taizan tightened his fist as he looked at Jaden.

"I'll show you the fruits of my year of training!" said Taizan. "My turn! Draw!"

Taizan drew a card and looked at it before diverting his gaze on Jaden.

"_I got the fruits of my training,"_ Taizan thought as he set a card into a slot. "First, I'll set a card face-down. And I'll summon this card I drew: Drawler!"

Taizan cupped his hands around his mouth as he let out a Tarzan-like yell. A huge, rock-like monster appeared on his side of the field.

"Drawler!" said Shou.

"His draw…" said Hayato.

Taizan looked at Jaden.

"Drawler's total ATK and DEF is 500 times the number of cards in my hand that I send back to my deck," explained Taizan. "I'll send back the four cards in my hand!"

Taizan exchanged his cards into his other hand and returned them to his deck.

"All his cards?" said Hayato.

Shou furrowed his brow as he looked at Taizan.

"Huh?" he exclaimed. "He's out of a hand!"

Drawler began to glow as its ATK increased from zero to 2000.

ATK 2000

"2000 ATK…" said Asuka.

Jaden clenched her teeth and growled a bit as Taizan raised his hand into the air.

"I use Drawler to attack Avian!" said Taizan. "Roller Press!"

Drawler charged towards Avian, its steamroller-like wheels intimidating the Elemental Hero as it came closer to him. Avian's eyes widened as he stood there, agape. Jaden shut her eyes close to avoid seeing Drawler flatten her favorite Elemental Hero as said Hero yelled out.

Jaden opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of Avian flattened on the ground, much like in a manner that would happen in a cartoon when a character went through its experience with a steamroller or road roller (6). The bottom of Jaden's deck glowed as her life points decreased.

Jaden:

LP

3000

Jaden looked at her deck, perplexed.

"What?" she said.

Taizan smirked as he explained, "When a monster in attack-mode is destroyed by Drawler, it is returned to the bottom of the deck instead of going to the Graveyard. So you can't draw it out from your Graveyard."

With that said, Taizan ended his turn, to which Jaden smiled ecstatically at, feeling rather impressed.

"Not bad," Jaden remarked as she reached for her deck. "My turn! Draw!"

Jaden drew a card and held it up to her face. She smiled and closed her eyes as she looked down.

"_I drew it, too!"_ she thought, immediately opening her eyes as twirled the card in her hand around her fingers before holding it up. "From my hand, I activate…Polymerization! I fuse the Elemental Heroes Clayman and Burstinatrix in my hand together!"

Elemental Heroes Clayman and Burstinatrix leapt up into the air as Polymerization began to fuse them together.

"And I summon Elemental Hero Rampart Gunner in defense mode!" Jaden continued on as said Elemental Hero appeared on the field in a defensive stance.

DEF 2500

Taizan took one look at Rampart Gunner and smiled, somewhat amused.

"Defense mode, huh?" he said.

Jaden smiled as she explained, "Nope, my Rampart Gunner can cut her ATK in half and attack directly while she's in defense mode!"

Rampart Gunner aimed her gun arm at Taizan at her ATK decreased.

ATK 1000

Taizan gasped, having been caught off guard by Rampart Gunner's special ability. Rampart Gunner waited patiently for Jaden to order her to attack. Jaden smiled as she waved her hand at Taizan, giving Rampart Gunner the signal to launch her missile-like bullets at him.

"Rampart Shot!" exclaimed Jaden.

Rampart Gunner blasted her missile-like bullets at Taizan, the explosion from the bullets causing smoke to envelop the Obelisk Blue as he yelled. Taizan fell onto his knees as his life points decreased.

Taizan:

LP

3000

"I'll finish my turn," said Jaden.

Tome had been watching the duel intently, though due to lack of experience, she had no clue what was really going on. Tome didn't know much about Duel Monsters, much like how every duelist once was.

"Amazing, Jaden-chan," Tome said before turning to the group. "So, who's winning?"

Daichi, Asuka, Shou, and Hayato looked perplexed at Tome. No…she couldn't…could she? It wasn't unheard of, but it was maybe a bit rare and this was a Duel Academy. One would think a person would pick up the rules of dueling, even one with lack of experience. Shou looked at Tome and replied to her question.

"They're tied," said Shou.

Taizan clenched his teeth as he stared at Jaden.

"_As expected, she's boasting about her luck of the draw,"_ thought Taizan. _"But my draws'll be better!"_

Asuka stared at Taizan as he got up from the ground, her thoughts focused on his style of dueling.

"_To give Drawler an ATK, Taizan reduced his hand to zero,"_ thought Asuka. _"I've never seen a strategy like this. Is he that confident in his next draw?"_

Jaden stared at Taizan, her expression neutral in wonder.

"_What'll he draw?"_ thought Jaden.

Taizan continued to look at Jaden, his expression determined. He wasn't going to give up that easily…

"_I won't draw just yet,"_ he thought before activating the face-down he set in his previous turn. "I activate the Permanent Trap, Miraculous Draw, on my field! I'm going to guess the card I'll draw before the Draw Phase! If I'm right, I'll deal 1000 points of damage to the opposing player. If I'm wrong, I'll take 1000 points of damage."

Shou, Daichi, Asuka, and Hayato stared at Taizan in awe.

"He's guessing the card he'll draw?" said Shou.

Jaden smiled ecstatically, the explanation of the Trap card's effect piquing her interest.

"Sounds interesting!" she exclaimed. "That's an exciting Trap!"

"_And there's about 40 cards in his deck…" _thought Asuka.

Daichi turned to Asuka, having been thinking the same.

"That's a bit of a gamble, don't you think?" asked Daichi.

Asuka blinked and snapped out of her thoughts as she looked at Daichi. She nodded in agreement. Taizan smirked at Jaden.

"You're thinking I won't guess it right, aren't you?" asked Taizan.

Jaden just blinked and replied, "I don't know."

"Well, I know!" remarked Taizan. "I've realized the true meaning of drawing!"

Taizan reached for his deck and grasped the top card as he closed his eyes. Taizan concentrated as an image of cards flowing down the waterfall popped up in mind. One of the cards suddenly flipped over out of the many flowing down the waterfall. Taizan opened his eyes as he got a good image of the card he might draw next.

"The card I'm drawing is Card Loan!" Taizan said as he drew a card and held it up. "Draw!"

The card was held up for everyone to see and sure enough, it was Card Loan. Shou, Asuka, Daichi, and Hayato were awestruck by Taizan's accurate guess.

"He guessed it!" exclaimed Shou.

Asuka looked at the card Taizan held up in disbelief.

"No way!" said Asuka.

"That's impressive!" commented Daichi.

Hayato had managed to get a good look at Card Loan, memories of the card's effect popping up in mind.

"Another draw-related card?" he questioned.

Jaden's smile ceased as this didn't look good for her life points…

"You'll take 1000 points of damage," Taizan said as he pressed a button on his duel disk.

Blue static electricity crackled around Jaden's duel disk, shocking her left arm slightly as her life points went down. Jaden closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as she grunted in pain from the shock.

Jaden:

LP

2000

Jaden opened her eyes and scowled at Taizan.

"And I'll activate my Card Loan," said Taizan. "My opponent regains 1000 life points, while I take 1000 points of damage."

Taizan's duel disk crackled with blue electricity, shocking him like it did with Jaden. However, unlike the gender-mistaken girl, he kept his calm composure as his life points went down while hers went up.

Jaden:

LP

3000

Taizan:

LP

2000

Taizan reached for his deck as he continued to explain Card Loan's effect.

"And then, I draw one card from my deck!" Taizan said as he drew a card and held it out. "The drawn card is then returned to my deck during the End Phase."

Hayato looked at Taizan, having noticed his cards had been related to drawing.

"He's that obsessed with drawing!" said Hayato.

Asuka kept her gaze on the duel.

"_He's up to something again…"_ she thought.

Taizan turned the card over and looked at it.

"It's here!" he said, placing the card in a slot. "Behold this draw! From my hand, I activate the Magic card, Drawber! Draw one card and I'll guess it."

Jaden drew a card, not once bothering to look at it.

"If I guess it right, all the cards on your field and in your hand are returned to your deck and shuffled!" explained Taizan.

"If he guesses right, Jaden's field will be empty!" said Hayato.

Daichi crossed his arms and placed his hand on his chin.

"But the chances of him guessing correctly again are rather slim," said Daichi.

"_There's no way he can guess it right so often…"_ thought Asuka.

Taizan closed his eyes and concentrated again, the same illusionary image popping up in mind again like before. He opened his eyes once he gotten a good image of what the card Jaden drew was.

"It's De-Fusion!" Taizan guessed.

Jaden turned over the card in her hand and looked at it. She looked up at Taizan and laughed.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Jaden.

The card in Jaden's hand was in fact, De-Fusion. Taizan's guess was once again accurate and of course, impressive as it had Daichi, Shou, Hayato, and Asuka astonished.

"He got it right again!" said Shou.

Taizan smirked as he watched Jaden took out her deck from her duel disk. She gathered up her cards on the field and returned them to her deck as she began to shuffle them. Rampart Gunner disappeared from the field, her card having been returned to Jaden's deck.

Shou frowned as he watched Jaden put her deck back into her duel disk. Her field was now empty, which meant that she was open to any attack.

"This isn't good, Aniki…" said Shou.

"I use Drawler to attack that player directly!" Taizan said, ordering Drawler to attack Jaden. "Roller Press!"

Drawler charged towards Jaden in a manner like it did with Avian. Jaden braced herself and yelled out in pain as Drawler ran right through her. She clenched her teeth and kept her eyes as the pain coursed through her body. Simulated pain or not, it still hurt!

Jaden:

LP

1000

Jaden opened her eyes and grunted as she stared at Taizan. Taizan took out the card from one of his duel disk's slots and placed it back into his deck.

"My turn has ended," said Taizan.

Jaden looked at her deck and reached for it.

"My turn!" she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card in her hand and played it.

"I summon Friendog in defense mode!" said Jaden.

A black, machine-like dog appeared on Jaden's side of the field, his stance cautious and alert.

DEF 1200

"I'll finish my turn," said Jaden.

Hayato was beginning to get concerned with Jaden's current situation.

"Jaden…this is pretty bad…" remarked Hayato.

Daichi immediately turned to Hayato and hushed him.

"Shh!" hissed Daichi. "She might hear you!"

Hayato immediately clamped up, but it was already too late. Jaden had heard and it took a lot of willpower plus Winged Kuriboh's presence to keep her from snapping at Hayato. Taking a deep breath, Jaden exhaled and waited patiently for Taizan.

"_This is some duel…"_ thought Asuka.

Shou frowned as he stared at Jaden.

"Aniki…" he murmured.

Tome looked curiously at the group and asked, "Did one of them win?"

Shou, Hayato, Daichi, and Asuka turned to Tome.

"Not yet," replied Shou.

Taizan tightened his fist and held it up as he closed his eyes.

"_It's finally time…"_ he thought. _"If I can guess the next card I'll draw right, I'll win. I'll win!"_

Taizan opened his eyes and focused his gaze on Friendog.

"_Her Friendog's in defense mode…"_ thought Taizan. _"That's it! If I can draw Shield Crash, that Magic effect will destroy her defending monster. If I can do that, I'll defeat Jaden with a direct attack!"_

Taizan closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

"_Shield Crash…Shield Crash…"_ he thought as the illusionary waterfall with cards popped up in mind.

Unlike last time, the cards were all flipped over, making it quite difficult to guess which card he would draw next. Taizan growled and clenched his teeth in irritation before he opened his eyes and decided to take a chance with his guess.

"The card I'll draw is Shield Crash!" Taizan said as he drew a card.

Taizan looked at the card he drew and gasped. It wasn't Shield Crash…this took Daichi, Asuka, Shou, and Hayato by surprise as Taizan had been accurate with his guesses up till now. This had prompted the simultaneous exclamation of "He was wrong!" from the guys while Asuka just stood there, agape.

Taizan yelled as the blue electricity shocked him for the wrong guess, causing his life points to decrease.

Taizan:

LP

1000

Taizan recovered quickly and played the card he had just finished drawing.

"I summon Drone in attack mode!" said Taizan.

A strange-looking, Earth-attribute monster appeared on Taizan's side of the field.

ATK 900

Jaden grinned at Taizan, amused with what had just happened.

"I'm the one with an overwhelming advantage," stated Taizan. "No matter what happens, I _will_ win! I use Drawler to attack Friendog! Roller Press!"

Friendog went down in a similar manner that Avian had experienced…destruction by a road roller-er, I mean, flattened by Drawler in a comical way! (7) Jaden's duel disk began to glow as her Graveyard ejected two cards from within it.

"I activate Friendog's effect!" Jaden said as she picked up the two cards. "With Friendog being sent to the Graveyard, I'll add Polymerization and Elemental Hero Burstinatrix from my Graveyard to my hand!"

"I still have another attack!" Taizan interjected. "I use Drone to attack the player directly! Drone Clone! (?)"

An eerie violet-colored aura emanated from Drone as three clones split from him and ran towards Jaden. The three clones surrounded Jaden and began to attack her. Jaden shielded herself from the punches Drone's clones threw at her. Compared to what she used to go through at a younger age, this was nothing, so she just kept her composure.

Jaden:

LP

100

"Aniki…" said Shou.

Tome looked at the group, who was currently worried about Jaden. Curiosity and lack of experience playing Duel Monsters got the better of Tome as she asked, "So, which of them won?"

Shou, Daichi, Hayato, and Asuka just sighed in exasperation as they decided not to bother answering Tome's question this time.

"I end my turn," said Taizan. "Your life points are just 100. Looks like the match is set. With this, I will have also completed my training."

"You don't get it," said Jaden.

Taizan looked perplexed at Jaden as she explained.

"You've already finished your training!" said Jaden.

Taizan's eyes widened as he exclaimed, "What?"

"You say that drawing has to do with the power of nature, but…" Jaden said as she closed her eyes and looked down, "…leaving that aside, above all, you were all excited about drawing cards until just now, weren't you?"

Taizan was speechless and just started at Jaden, agape. Jaden opened her eyes and smiled at Taizan.

"You enjoy drawing, so that's how you built your deck, right?" asked Jaden. "If that's the case, you need to be excited until the end! You shouldn't be focused on winning. That's why you were wrong just now."

Taizan scowled at Jaden.

"Don't toy with me!" snapped Taizan. "There's no way the main thing about drawing is about such nonsense!"

"It's true, you know," Jaden said, her smile never once ceasing. "Just remember the Golden Egg Bread. The god of drawing will heed to excitement!"

Jaden looked at her duel disk and reached for her deck.

"And this draw's making me excited!" she exclaimed. "My turn! Draw!"

Jaden drew a card from her deck and held it up to her face.

"This is the card your Drawler took out first," said Jaden. "It was returned to my deck and shuffled instead of going to the Graveyard. And now, he came back to me!"

Jaden turned the card over for Taizan to see that it was Elemental Hero Avian.

"What will drawing a monster like that do for you?" asked Taizan.

Jaden held up her fist as she stared at Taizan.

"It'll be something interesting!" said Jaden. "And don't doubt my Hero's capability!"

Taizan looked questioningly at Jaden as she reached for a card in her hand.

"I activate Polymerization from my hand!" Jaden said as she held Polymerization up. "I'll fuse Burstinatrix and Avian together to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman in attack mode!"

Burstinatrix and Avian leapt into the air as Polymerization merged the two monsters together to bring out Jaden's signature Fusion-Monster, Flame Wingman.

ATK 2100

"What?" exclaimed Taizan.

Shou smiled as he noticed the ATK difference between Flame Wingman and Drawler.

"That's the way!" said Shou. "It's higher than Drawler's ATK!"

Jaden held up her hand in the air before she used it to direct Flame Wingman at Drawler.

"I use Flame Wingman to attack Drawler!" said Jaden. "Flame Shoot!"

Flame Wingman aimed his right arm at Drawler as a fiery blast shot out of his right hand. Flames engulfed Drawler and destroyed it, causing Taizan's life points to decrease.

Taizan:

LP

900

Taizan held up his fist as he looked at Jaden.

"All you did was take out 100!" said Taizan.

"But that's not all I did," Jaden said, smiling. "I activate Flame Wingman's effect! The ATK of the monster destroyed by this card in battle is dealt as damage to the opposing player!"

Taizan dropped his fist and frowned as his remaining life points went down to zero.

Taizan:

LP

0

"No way…" Taizan said in disbelief before falling despondently onto his knees.

Jaden smiled at Taizan as she winked at him and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Nyah~!" said Jaden. "I told ya not to doubt my Hero's capability!"

What Jaden just did was adorable and since Taizan wasn't really expecting this, he blushed slightly. He immediately looked down to hide his red face as Jaden pointed two fingers at him while she winked and smiled.

"Gotcha!" she said.

Shou walked up to Jaden and smiled at his Aniki.

"You did it, Aniki!" said Shou.

Just then, Shou remembered why he was angry a while ago before the duel had started. He turned to Taizan and glared at him as he held up his fist. Jaden blinked and placed her hand on Shou's shoulder, snapping the blue-haired Osiris Red out of his anger. He looked up at Jaden questioningly.

"It's okay, Shou," said Jaden. "It was an accident…"

Shou frowned, but just nodded as Hayato walked up to them.

"Jaden!" said Hayato.

Meanwhile with Taizan,

The Obelisk Blue punched his fist into the ground in regret for losing the duel.

"It still wasn't enough…" Taizan lamented as he continued to punch the ground. "I didn't understand what drawing was…"

Jaden walked up to Taizan and placed her hands on her hips.

"Isn't that why I said you didn't get?" asked Jaden.

"No, my training still wasn't enough…" Taizan said, his eyes beginning to waver.

Jaden closed her eyes and exhaled before looking at Taizan.

"You want to draw some Drawbread together?" Jaden asked as she held out her hand to Taizan. "Let's nab that Golden Egg Bread."

Taizan looked up at Jaden and her friends, his eyes beginning to water. It was only a matter of seconds before his emotions got the better of him and he began to cry. Tome's eyes began to water as she looked at Taizan.

"Taizan-kun…" she said.

"I really…I really wanted to eat the Golden Egg Bread, no matter what, so I climbed down from the mountains…" cried Taizan.

Tome walked over to Taizan and knelt down onto the ground in front of him. She smiled warmly at him as she placed her hand on his arm.

"Come back, Taizan-kun," said Tome.

Taizan sobbed and embraced Tome as he cried out, "Tome-san!"

Tome hugged back as Taizan began to sob. Jaden looked at Shou, Daichi, Hayato, and Asuka and smiled at them as she closed her eyes.

"Now then, let's go!" said Jaden.

Shou blinked and reached into his pocket as he pulled on Jaden's sleeve. Jaden looked at Shou as he handed her an unmarked package.

Jaden looked at the package in her hands and smiled as she walked over to Taizan and Tome. After a few moments, Taizan let go of Tome after someone tapped on his shoulder. He looked back to see that it was Jaden, holding out a package to him.

"I believe this belongs to you," said Jaden. "Here…I believe this is the Golden Egg Bread you drew…not sure, but why don't you try and find out?"

Taizan blinked and accepted the Drawbread handed to him. He stared at the package for a few seconds before opening it. He was just about to bite into the bread when he stopped and tore it in half. Jaden looked questioningly at Taizan and blinked when he held out one of the halves of the Drawbread to her.

"Huh?" said Jaden.

Taizan smiled at Jaden as he got up from the ground.

"Take it," said Taizan. "You deserve at least half of it since…"

Jaden blinked and sighed as she closed her eyes. She took the Drawbread half offered to her before she bopped Taizan over the head with her fist. Taizan yelped and looked at Jaden questioningly as he rubbed his head.

"Geez, I already said it was okay," said Jaden. "The whole 'kidnapping' was an accident…right?"

Jaden looked at Taizan and smiled. Taizan blinked and sighed…not exactly what he'd been talking about since he was referring to the wet white shirt incident…

"_But whatever works!"_ Taizan thought as he bit into his Drawbread half.

Jaden did the same and sure enough, the Drawbread that they had shared with each other was the Golden Egg Bread. Asuka couldn't help but feel a bit jealous, though this duel did teach her something…

"_I wonder…"_ thought Asuka.

* * *

~the next day~

Jaden had been making her way towards the store when she met up with Taizan. Despite wearing a different set of clothes than his previous, Jaden still recognized Taizan by the length of his hair and his muscles, which the male Obelisk Blue uniform he wore did nothing to hide them. Jaden had tugged on his sleeve and greeted him as she reminded him of her offer. Taizan immediately accepted since, either way, the store was where his destination was.

A few moments had passed when Jaden finally asked Taizan about something.

"What's with your long hair?" asked Jaden.

Taizan grabbed a lock of his long, black hair to look at it.

"Oh, I couldn't find a pair of scissors last night," said Taizan. "I was thinking of asking Tome-san if I could borrow a pair…"

Jaden blinked and walked in front of Taizan. Taizan stopped as the gender-mistaken girl looked him over in thought. After a full minute of this Jaden walked out of Taizan's way and gestured at him to keep walking. A question popped up in mind as Taizan wondered what Jaden had done.

"What was that about, Jaden?" asked Taizan.

Jaden shrugged and crossed her arms as she turned her head away from Taizan.

"Nothing, I was just thinking of how you'd look with shorter hair, that's all," said Jaden.

Taizan arched his eyebrow at Jaden as she looked up at him.

"You know, I think you look better with longer hair," said Jaden. "It's kinda a new look for you, don't ya think?"

Taizan blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head as he turned his head away from Jaden.

"I guess…" said Taizan. "By the way, aren't you supposed to be in Obelisk Blue?"

Jaden inhaled and let out a puff of air as she sighed.

"Long story short, the receptionist screwed up on my registration form and filled in the wrong gender box," said Jaden. "Samejima-san got the call from my dad and was about to change my dorm assignment, but I requested to stay in Osiris Red."

Taizan looked questioningly at Jaden and asked, "Why?"

Jaden placed her hands behind her head and smiled.

"Because as Shou's 'Aniki', I must act like one by staying by his side!" answered Jaden. "And if you're wondering about the 'Aniki' thing, Kaiser Ryou is never around for him most of the time, so I'm the closest thing he's got to an older brother…despite the gender difference, but that's not the point…"

Taizan nodded.

* * *

A few minutes later,

Asuka sighed and looked at the unmarked packages in the Drawbread cart with determination.

"_Today…maybe today…"_ she thought as she stared at the many packages. _"Maybe what Jaden said…was right…I wonder…"_

After a few moments of thinking, Asuka inhaled and exhaled as she tightened her fists. She was going to do it…she wasn't going to hide her excitement this time! She wasn't going to depend on Jaden to draw the Golden Egg Bread and hope she'd give her half anymore…Asuka was going to try her hardest to draw the Golden Egg Bread _herself_.

Taizan and Jaden still haven't arrived yet, so she still had a chance. Asuka nodded and reached in for a random package and pulled out. Just then, in came Taizan and Jaden, both making their way towards the Drawbread cart.

Asuka sighed and walked away from the cart as she looked at the package in her hands. If she hadn't drawn the Golden Egg Bread yet… there was a slim chance to draw one now that Taizan and Jaden had arrived. It wasn't a surprise when she heard Jaden call out for Tome.

"Oi, Tome-san!" said Jaden. "The Golden Egg Bread hasn't shown up yet, right?"

Tome looked at Jaden and Taizan and smiled at them.

"That's right, it hasn't yet," said Tome. "Good luck!"

Tome couldn't help but giggled a bit at the eager looks in Taizan and Jaden's faces. Asuka sighed and she slowly opened the Drawbread in her hands as both Taizan and Jaden started reaching into the Drawbread cart.

"Okay, I'll get it!" said Taizan.

Asuka looked at the Drawbread in her hands and uncovered the wrapper. Asuka's excitement never once ceased, despite feeling down that Jaden and Taizan were probably, without a doubt, going to draw the Golden Egg Bread. She looked at the Drawbread and blinked as she noticed something…

"_No way…"_ Asuka thought as her eyes widened. _"Did I…?"_

Asuka immediately parted the Drawbread to see the filling inside of it and then…

"I got it!" Asuka happily exclaimed as she held up the Drawbread. "It's the Golden Egg Bread!"

Taizan and Jaden immediately looked at Asuka as what she held up in her hand…was indeed the Golden Egg Bread. Asuka smiled ecstatically for once at something else that wasn't about her Nii-san. Jaden couldn't help but smile, despite feeling down at not having a chance at getting the Golden Egg Bread. Asuka was happy and hell, she deserved it after all these countless draws and tries she's done.

"I'm so happy!" exclaimed Asuka. "I did it!"

Jaden patted Taizan's shoulder reassuringly as she stared at Asuka. If Asuka kept it up with her luck…Jaden and Taizan would have competition and for a certain gender-mistaken Osiris Red…

"_This might turn out interesting,"_ thought Jaden.

Of course, Taizan will have to adjust with the competition before he could finally enjoy the excitement from it now that he had two rivals for the Golden Egg Bread. Though, even so…he's had to admit that if it had just been Jaden and himself drawing the Golden Egg Bread, it wouldn't have been as interesting as it was before. Asuka would probably agree, but most likely not as she was too busy basking in the joy of her lucky draw.

So ends another day at Duel Academy…

* * *

A/N End of chapter and yes, I FINALLY got this chapter up! I enter school this Monday, so remember, don't ask when the next chapter will be up! Be happy that the real work in school doesn't begin until at least next week, so that gives me a chance to get more typing done! Anyways…time for the little notes after this!

I'd like to thank **Layne Locke** for being Reviewer #60 and I'd like to say…wow, almost 70 reviews? I feel happy! XD

Anyways, sorry for the delay, but here's the funny thing…the time I actually didn't put the 'Red the Ultimate Trainer' thing was the time I actually USED the late excuse. XD I was trying to level up my Dratini, Ryou (yes, I named her Ryou and girls can be named Ryou, too! Look at _Otomen_, dammit and don't ask questions! DX). Also, I've recently become this certain Engloid's fangirl because of matt9five or YouTube…and the Engloid's name is…Tonio! Hey! Not my fault his voice is awesome and I can _understand_ his English _perfectly_! Seriously, listen to the guy sing to _Paparazzi_, _Bad_ _Romance_, or _Poker Face_…anyways, I've been also into Megpoid Gumi since her voice is so beautiful and realistic…_Coward Montblanc_, anyone? XD

Okay, onto the notes!

(1) Yes, a Family Guy reference…what? It seemed like a good time to use that one!

(2) That was all **Hestic**'s idea…yeah, what would I do without her? PS, she's also the one who gave me the 'kidnapped by Tarzan' idea, so once again, the credit goes to her for the idea, the other small left over credit goes to me for typing it. Also, the white t-shirt thing was something we both came up with, she with the shirt and the water, me with MAKING the shirt white, so yeah...

(3) Quote taken from LittleKuriboh's awesome _Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged series_ and, oh, the irony! XD Feel free to correct me if you want since I'm joking…or am I? *gets slapped* Okay…Moving on!

(4) Translation: "My brother gets the quiet guy who was previously in a coma while I get the cute spazzy girl...and she isn't even British!" Quote given by **Hestic**, who I thank, once again! BTW, she was making a reference to episode 12 of LittleKuriboh's _Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series_. And also, reason to why Winged Kuriboh was looking over his contract…you'd be to if you'd gone through all the stuff he's went through!

(5) I was so tempted to say, "What is this? _Naruto_?" I mean, flashback after flashback…yeah…whatever!

(6) Felt was SO tempted to say, "Roada rolla," instead of road roller…yeah…what? It definitely kicks more ass than road roller! XD

(7) Roada rolla, once again…hey! Blame the Kagamine twins/reflections (whatever they are, I don't give a damn as long as they're together!) if you have a problem with it! I just happen to love Len and Rin's pronunciation of 'road roller'. X3

(?) GymLeaderLance99 of YouTube put those there for a reason since the translation for this episode was questionable...hey! Don't blame GymLeaderLance99 for that! It's not his/her fault that he/she didn't have enough sources! So yeah! Also, I reworded some of the translations, so yeah...don't question me! DX

Also, NO FLAMES! I'm not in the mood to be flames as I already said before, school starts on Monday for me…thank god for my friends, oh, and I've recently found one of my friends on fanfiction, so say hello to **ladedanixie** for me! She's an _awesome_ writer, so tell her I said hi if you ever read and review her stories! Okay, you know the drill…constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcomed (hey, I need tips on my writing, grammar, and such, dammit!) and reviews just keep me happy! Also, if you want another reason why I took long? Two words…_Leather Pants_…and _Brooklyn Rage_~! XD Okay, wait patiently for the next chapter since I don't know when it will be up!


	18. Turn 18

Behold! The longest chapter I've ever made! Hope this is enough to make you wait for the next chapters I'm going to be working on this and next week!

Chapter Eighteen

The Duel King's Deck

It had been a few weeks since the 'Golden Egg Bread' incident. Jaden had become good friends with Taizan and Asuka did actually become good competition. So far, the three Golden Egg Bread fanatics were at a tie in score with who drew the rare Drawbread the most.

More to the point, it was just another day at Duel Academy. Classes have been postponed for some reason, Jaden was looking for Shou, and there was a huge line in the store in the middle of the morning—wait, what?

Jaden looked perplexed at the crowd consisting of Osiris Reds, Ra Yellows, and Obelisk Blues. What the heck was going on, exactly? That was what Jaden wanted to know…but it seemed everyone had their attention focused on something in front of them. Whatever it was, Jaden couldn't see thanks to her small height and Koala-man wasn't around for her to climb on, so she was on her own…

"Huh?" said Jaden. "What the…?"

Jaden looked around and just her luck, Daichi happened to be just right by her. Finally! Someone to answer her question!

"Oi, Misawa!" said Jaden. "What's all the fuss about? Is it a fight?"

Daichi blinked and looked at Jaden as she tried to get a good look at what was going on. He smiled at her persistence despite not getting any progress and decided to help her out a bit by lifting her up. Jaden blinked as she looked around.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "What the…?"

To her left, was a Ra Yellow student with spiky, dual-colored red and black hair and grayish-blue eyes. He was currently dueling someone, the duel disk on his left arm and the two face-down cards on his field confirming that assumption. Jaden blinked as she stared at him, wondering who he was.

"Who's that?" she asked.

Daichi overheard Jaden's question and replied, "Kagurazaka. He's a Ra Yellow student."

Jaden narrowed her eyes as she diverted her gaze to the right.

"I can tell by looking, you know," remarked Jaden. "I'm not color blind…but I mean, what's…Shou!"

To Jaden's right, was Shou, whom she had been looking right after she had been woken up by Pharaoh rubbing against her cheek when she fell asleep on her desk (again). The first thing Jaden had noticed when she woke up was that the desk next to hers, Shou's, was empty. The whole classroom was also empty, save for Pharaoh and Daitokuji, who had told Jaden to try looking for her roommate at the store. And he was right, Shou was at the store!

Shou had overheard Jaden and turned his head to her as Daichi lowered her down.

"Oh, Aniki!" said Shou.

Jaden made her way through the crowd, ignoring the looks students gave her when she pushed past them. She didn't give a damn… that was her roommate right there, dueling for some apparent reason that she wanted answers for.

"What's going on, Shou?" asked Jaden.

Shou looked at Jaden as she crossed her arms and stared at him with that look.

"That's what I want to ask you!" Shou said as he immediately pointed at the many posters on the wall above the counter where Tome and the counter girl, Seiko, were currently at. "It's that! It's that!"

Jaden blinked as she focused her gaze on the posters. All of them had one thing in common, and that just happened to be the picture of the person in the poster. The person was a tri-colored, spiky-haired young man with violet-colored eyes with a duel disk on his left arm. Jaden's eyes widened as she immediately recognized the person on the poster.

"Here at Duel Academy…a special exhibition…of the deck of the original Duel King, Yugi Mutou?" Jaden said as she read the poster.

Jaden's eyes immediately sparkled in awe as she stared at the poster, smiling.

"So, does that mean…the deck that was used by Yugi-san is coming to this Academy?" Jaden asked ecstatically.

Shou tightened his fist as he looked at Jaden.

"It can't mean anything else, can it?" replied Shou.

Jaden didn't hear Shou as she was too busy staring at the poster in awe. Shou blinked and ran up to the gender-mistaken girl.

"Aniki?" Shou said as he tried to get Jaden's attention. "Aniki?"

Shou waved his hands in front of Jaden's face, but to no avail. She was still too captivated by the poster of Yugi Mutou. Jaden had met him once before, as Shou knew, but when it came to the Duel King's deck…that was a different story.

"Yugi-san's deck…in this Academy!" said Jaden.

Shou blinked as memories of the Duel King popped up from when he and Jaden watched _Pegasus' Island_ and the _Battle City_ DVDs.

"Speaking of Yugi Mutou…" said Shou. "In Duelist Kingdom, he defeated Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters…In Battle City, he defeated people like Seto Kaiba and Marik (1)…He got the God Cards and ruled as a duelist like no other! He's a legendary duelist!"

Jaden couldn't help but laugh a bit as she stared at the poster in awe. Shou sounded so much like an expert on the duelist that was Yugi Mutou… it was sort of cute. Jaden blinked and looked at Shou after he tugged on her sleeve.

"I heard it doesn't have the God Cards in it, but…" Shou said as he closed his eyes and smiled. "Stuff like Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl…"

Shou flinched slightly as Jaden startled him slightly by ruffling his hair.

"Still like Dark Magician Girl, huh?" teased Jaden.

Shou blushed and glared at Jaden before continuing on.

"Anyways, where was I…oh!" said Shou. "And other treasured cards are in that rare deck, in perfect condition! It's something we _have_ to see!"

Jaden looked at Shou and blinked a few times before saying, "I know what you mean, but…What does this have to do with it?"

Jaden turned her head to Kagurazaka, who was currently staring at her and Shou, waiting patiently. Seiko and Tome overheard Jaden, to which the latter decided to answer the gender-mistaken girl's question.

"We're distributing tickets to see it first thing in the morning here in the store," Tome explained as she held out a ticket in between her index and middle finger for Jaden to see. "Since we're down to the last one, they're settling who gets it with a duel."

Jaden blinked and exclaimed, "Eh?"

Shou looked perplexed at Jaden as she narrowed her eyes at him, somewhat miffed.

"How selfish of you, Shou…" she remarked.

Shou blinked and reached into his pocket.

"What are you talking about?" Shou asked as he took out something from his pocket. "That ticket over there is yours, Aniki. As for my ticket…"

Shou smiled and held up his ticket for Jaden to see.

"See?" said Shou.

Jaden immediately had a change of expression as she placed her hands on Shou's shoulders.

"D-Do your best, Shou!" said Jaden.

Shou blinked and said, "G-Got it!"

Jaden closed her eyes and smiled as she ruffled Shou's hair before she returned back to the crowd. Unbeknownst to her, Daichi stood right by her side with his arms crossed as he watched the duel. Shou ran back to his place on the field and looked at Kagurazaka, determination in his eyes. His Aniki was counting on him, now…

"We're resuming the duel!" Shou exclaimed as he held up his fist.

Kagurazaka nodded and drew a card from his deck.

"My turn!" he said, afterwards looking at the card he drew before holding it out. "The Magic card, Heavy Storm! This destroys all Magic and Trap cards on the field-_no ne_!"

Jaden blinked and stared wide-eyed at Kagurazaka.

"I think I'm having déjà vu…" she said.

Daichi overheard Jaden and decided to tell her about Kagurazaka's deck…though he ended up startling her since she had no idea he was standing right next to her. It wasn't that she didn't notice him; it's just that most of the students in the crowd watching the duel were Ra Yellows, so Jaden didn't immediately recognize him…That, and wasn't he in the back of the crowd? More to the point, and on with the explanation…

"It's Kagurazaka's Professor Chronos Copy Deck," said Daichi.

Jaden stared at Daichi.

"Misawa!" exclaimed Jaden. "When did you move up?"

That question stayed unanswered as Kagurazaka's Magic card, Heavy Storm, destroyed his two face-down cards on his field. Smoke began to flood the bottom of the room where Kagurazaka's face-downs were as two yellow, serpentine-like monsters appeared on the field.

"I sacrifice the two Tokens to summon Ancient Gear Golem!" Kagurazaka said as he did a pose similar to what Professor Chronos did from when he dueled with Jaden.

A giant, golem-like monster made up of gears and armor appeared on Kagurazaka's side of the field. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she stared at Ancient Gear Golem. Memories of when she first took her entrance exam, back then when everyone still thought her officially as male and when the screw up took place. Ancient Gear Golem had been a monster Jaden had faced when she dueled with Professor Chronos, who had actually been using his own personal deck rather than the examination deck he was supposed to have used.

Kagurazaka grinned widely before he directed Ancient Gear Golem at Shou and his Jetroid.

"Go, Ancient Gear Golem!" said Kagurazaka.

Ancient Gear Golem swung its arm back before making an attempt to attack Jetroid with a punch. It would've been a successful attack had it not been for Shou as he intervened with his Jetroid's special effect.

"I activate Jetroid's special effect!" said Shou. "When this card becomes an attack target, I can activate a Trap from my hand!"

Shou picked out a card from his hand and held it up.

"Magic Cylinder!" said Shou.

Two purple-colored cylinders appeared on Shou's side of the field.

"I'm sending the attack I'm taking right back to you!" said Shou.

"What?" exclaimed Kagurazaka.

Ancient Gear Golem's attack went through one of the cylinders and came right back out the other, heading straight towards Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka yelled as the attack hit him, depleting the last of his remaining life points to zero. He fell down onto his knees despondently as Shou pumped his fist into the air as he smiled ecstatically.

"I did it!" exclaimed Shou. "I won!"

Jaden ran up to Shou and smiled at him, rather impressed with how calm he was when he was up against Ancient Gear Golem.

"Amazing, Shou!" complimented Jaden. "You went and beat the combo that gave me a hard time!"

Shou closed his eyes and smiled at Jaden as he scratched the side of his head idly.

"I remembered your duel with Professor Chronos, Aniki, and decided I should add a counter into my deck!" Shou said, laughing afterwards.

Jaden sighed and crossed her arms as she waited for Shou. Shou stopped laughing and remembered the reason why he was dueling in the first place.

"Oh, yeah!" he said, running up to Tome and Zaiko. "I'll take this!"

Shou picked up the ticket on the counter and looked at Kagurazaka, smiling as he closed his eyes.

"No hard feelings, right?" said Shou.

Shou turned to Jaden and ran up to her as she kept her smile.

"You did it, Shou!" said Jaden.

Shou nodded and held out the ticket in his hand to Jaden.

"Here, Aniki!" said Shou. "It's your ticket!"

Jaden accepted the ticket and ruffled Shou's hair.

"All right!" said Jaden. "Thank you, Shou!

Shou just nodded again and smiled.

"Well, then, this wraps it up, everyone!" Tome said as she looked at the crowd of students, smiling at them. "Back to class now!"

Kagurazaka clenched his teeth as he looked down, his eyes shut as he tried to ignore the stares given to him by his fellow Ra Yellows and a few Obelisk Blues. Daichi had been the only to not have been looking down upon him and stayed while the others left.

"What's with that Kagurazaka guy?" asked a Ra Yellow.

Kagurazaka gritted his teeth as he looked down.

"He's a Ra Yellow, and yet, he lost so easily!" said another Ra Yellow, not caring once about how his words affected Kagurazaka.

"It's because naturally, all his battles are complete garbage!" a third Ra Yellow said as a matter of fact.

"True, true," agreed the second Ra Yellow.

"I bet that guy's going to get demoted soon!" remarked the first Ra Yellow.

Daichi looked around, the store almost completely empty save for his friends, Tome, Seiko, Kagurazaka and of course, himself. Jaden growled as she clenched her teeth and held up one of her tightened fists at the Ra Yellows who had just insulted Kagurazaka. Shou had his arms wrapped around Jaden's waist as he tried to hold her back and keep her from lashing out on the Ra Yellows by acting as deadweight.

"Damn it…" Jaden said through her clenched teeth.

Shou tightened his grip on Jaden and looked at her with one eye open. She was mad…but he wasn't going to take risk with her getting into trouble.

"Calm down, calm down!" exclaimed Shou.

So far, what Shou was doing was working as every time Jaden took a step, he was dragged along with her. It was difficult for Jaden since she had Shou slowing her down, so all she could really do was attempt to go after the Ra Yellows while dragging her roommate along as she glared daggers at them.

Daichi smiled at Jaden and Shou before diverting his gaze onto Kagurazaka. He closed his eyes and smiled reassuringly at the defeated Ra Yellow as he tried to cheer him up.

"Don't mind them…or those two," said Daichi. "Come on, we're all unlucky at times."

As much as it was nice of someone to say that, the fact that it had been Daichi Misawa who had told him that made Kagurazaka feel even worse. Kagurazaka gritted his teeth and glared at Daichi as he got off from the floor.

"Shut it!" snapped Kagurazaka.

Daichi blinked and looked questioningly at Kagurazaka as the angered Ra Yellow continued on, "What could someone like you understand when you're practically in Obelisk Blue?"

Not being able to take anymore of this, Kagurazaka turned and fled the store, concerning Tome and Seiko. By now, Jaden had snapped out of her earlier rage at the Ra Yellows and stopped what she was doing to see what was wrong. Shou let god of Jaden and looked questioningly at her before they both turned to Daichi. Daichi just stayed silent as he watched Kagurazaka disappeared down the hall.

* * *

Later that day in the Ra Yellow Dorms,

In a certain Ra Yellow's room,

Kagurazaka gritted his teeth as he tightened his fists, shaking in anger at what happened today.

"Shit!" he swore as he stared at the books on his desk. "Why…why can't I win?"

Kagurazaka threw off the books on his desk in a fit of anger.

"Shit!" Kagurazaka swore again as the notes from the books slid out and slowly fell to the ground. "Yugi Mutou…Seto Kaiba, and…Kaiser Ryou…And even Chronos…I researched everything about the decks of all the famous duelists! I had all their moves memorized…And yet…why can't I win? What am I doing wrong?"

Just then, a paper with the picture of a certain duelist landed on top of Kagurazaka's desk in front of him. Kagurazaka stared at the paper that was right in front of him. It was a poster similar to the ones in the store with a picture of Yugi Mutou and information about the special deck exhibition. He stared at the poster in thought, his rage beginning to cease as an idea popped up in mind.

"What am I doing wrong?" Kagurazaka asked himself. "I'll use this to find out."

* * *

Meanwhile…in the TOOLSHED (at night…)!

A/N Insert amazed sound, here and YES! The Narrator is back!

In a certain Osiris Red trio's room,

Jaden stared at Winged Kuriboh's card in her hand as she sat in a chair in front of the desk.

"Yugi-san's deck, huh?" she thought.

Hayato looked down at Shou from where he was at the top of his bunk bed. Shou smiled ecstatically, still feeling happy with his victory in a duel.

"It feels so great to win a duel with someone in the Academy!" said Shou. "Right, Aniki?"

Jaden blinked and diverted her eyes on Shou.

"Yeah…" she replied.

Shou looked questioningly at Jaden.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Shou. "Since earlier, you've been…"

Jaden had been quiet ever since they came back to their room. It wasn't like her to be quiet…unless she was focused on battling Red the Ultimate Trainer, but since she wasn't playing her game at the moment, something _had_ to be up.

"Hey, are you all up for going to the exhibition hall for a bit?" asked Jaden.

Shou and Hayato looked perplexed at Jaden.

"The exhibition hall?" repeated Hayato.

Jaden set down Winged Kuriboh's card on the desk and turned in the chair she sat in to face her roommates.

"The exhibition opens up tomorrow morning at nine o'clock," Jaden said as she stood up from her seat, smiling. "Which means the deck's on display tonight, right?"

Shou frowned as the smile Jaden had on her face meant something…

"So if we ask, they'll let us sneak a peek at it, wouldn't they?" Jaden asked as she closed her eyes, her smiling never once ceasing.

Hayato smiled and started to climb down from his bunk bed.

"That's a good idea!" said Hayato. "It's probably going to be crowded tomorrow, and we'd hate having a crowd of people there."

Shou looked perplexed at Jaden.

"Eh?" he said. "So then, you're not going to use the ticket I got for you?"

Jaden walked up to Shou.

"That's that!" said Jaden. "Tomorrow morning, we'll go check it out again!"

Jaden closed her eyes and smiled at Shou as he diverted his eyes to the side. Jaden used her index finger to poke Shou's cheek as a way to try and get his attention.

"Let's go…" Jaden said as she continued to use the tip of her finger to prod Shou's cheek.

Shou stayed silent and kept his eyes to the side to avoid Jaden's smile.

"C'mon…I'll make it up to you!" Jaden offered.

A few minutes of this had passed before Shou sighed and gave in. There was no changing his Aniki's mind once she had her sights set on something.

"There's really no helping Aniki…" Shou sighed.

* * *

Later in the exhibition hall,

Posters of the Duel King, Yugi Mutou, lined both sides of the hallway leading to the exhibition hall. Professor Chronos was currently talking with the guards.

"We've finished setting up the display case, so we'll return the exhibition hall key and display case key to you," one of the guards said as he handed Professor Chronos the keys.

"You were a lifesaver, covering our guard duty this time," said the other guard. "Keep an eye out for anyone out of the ordinary."

Both guards saluted respectively at Professor Chronos as the first guard said, "We're returning to HQ."

"We'll see you tomorrow," said the second guard.

Both guards turned and walked away as Professor Chronos waved at them.

"Thanks for your hard work-_na no ne_!" said Professor Chronos.

Professor Chronos watched the guards walked down the hallway. Once they were out of sight and earshot, the blond-haired professor quietly laughed to himself.

"To think that I'll see Signore Yugi's deck before anyone else…" Professor Chronos said to himself as he walked towards the hallway leading to the exhibition hall. "A side benefit to being a supervisor-_na no ne_!"

Professor Chronos pushed the door open to check on (and by that, also get a glimpse at) Yugi Mutou's deck.

"Let's see here…" he said, immediately focusing his attention on the glass case. "_Natale_…"

Professor Chronos closed the door behind him as he stared at the glass case, grinning. What sight lied before him had the blond-haired professor shocked and wiped the grin off his face…the glass case containing the legendary deck of the Duel King was broken, pieces of chattered glass laid scattered on the floor. Though that wasn't exactly the point of what had Chronos shocked…it was the fact that the deck _itself_ was _gone_…and on _his_ watch!

"What is this?" exclaimed Professor Chronos.

* * *

Meanwhile,

Jaden, Shou, and Hayato turned a corner into the hallway, not noticing the guards that were right behind them, walking towards HQ. Hayato was trying to catch up with his friends, not wanting to be left behind.

"C'mon, wait up!" Hayato called out.

Shou slowed down his pace to turn to face Hayato.

"Hurry, Hayato-kun!" Shou urged the koala-resembling boy as he ran in place.

Both Shou and Hayato knew from experience that if they didn't pick up the pace, Jaden would leave them behind…_especially_ since this was **Yugi**-san's deck that she wanted to _really_ see. Jaden wasn't going to stop for anyone…or so she thought. Jaden's expression went from its determined and focused demeanor to a perplexed one as she saw a certain Ra Yellow coming her way.

Daichi wasn't a bit surprised to see Jaden making her way towards the exhibition hall with her friends, but he was slightly embarrassed since it wasn't like him to be this late out on his own accord. Jaden was to blame for that most of the time, but this time it wasn't, which is what confused the gender-mistaken Osiris Red. Last time she checked, she only dragged along Hayato and Shou.

"Oh?" Daichi said as he stopped in front of the entrance to the hallway leading towards the exhibition hall. "Jaden!"

Jaden did likewise as both she and Daichi stared at each other for a few moments. This gave Hayato and Shou enough time to catch up with their female roommate since…well, they were exhausted! The moment they left the dorm, they had to keep a steady, but fast pace to keep up with Jaden as they made their way towards the exhibition hall. So at this current moment, Shou and Hayato were catching their breath as they panted while Daichi and Jaden conversed a bit with each other.

"Misawa, what's up?" asked Jaden.

Daichi laughed awkwardly a bit as a small blush tinged his cheeks in embarrassment. So much for trying to keep a low profile…might as well come clean since there was no way he'd get away with lying to Jaden.

"I thought I'd just check out the King's deck," Daichi replied as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Wow, so we're all thinking the same thing, huh?" Jaden said, grinning.

A loud, shocked, and sudden voice echoed through the exhibition hallway, exclaiming, "Mamma Mia!"

This definitely caught the group's attention as they turned their heads to the hallway.

"What was that?" asked Jaden.

Shou immediately recognized the voice, as did Hayato.

"That voice!" exclaimed Shou.

"It's Professor Chronos!" said Hayato.

Daichi quickly looked at Jaden and said, "Jaden!"

"Right!" Jaden said as she and Daichi started running towards the exhibition hall.

Daichi and Jaden stopped right in front of the door and both helped each other push the door open by each taking a side. They looked around and spotted Professor Chronos standing by a broken glass case, looking rather distressed. Professor Chronos heard the door open and turned to the doorway, immediately placing his hands on his cheeks as he shrieked.

"Good Lord!" the blond-haired professor exclaimed.

Daichi's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the broken glass case and with Chronos being right by it, well…that didn't look good.

"Professor Chronos!" said Daichi.

Jaden stared at the glass case, taking in the shattered glass that lied on the floor from the break in one side of the case. Hayato and Shou ran up to Daichi and Jaden, both wanting to know what just happened.

"The display case, it's…" said Jaden.

Hayato and Shou focused their gaze on the display case, their eyes immediately widening in shock. The glass case (or rather what was left of it…) was empty and certainly not containing the deck belonging to the Duel King like it should have been!

"The King's deck's not there!" exclaimed Hayato.

Shou diverted his gaze on Professor Chronos and commented, "Don't tell me Professor Chronos…"

Professor Chronos began to panic as he shook his head and tried to deny that the missing deck wasn't actually his doing.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Professor Chronos. "_Non_! _Non_! _Non_!"

Jaden turned to Daichi and said, "Let's go tell everyone!"

With that said, Jaden, Daichi, Shou, and Hayato were about to make their way out of the exhibition hall when Professor Chronos, in a state of panic, leapt towards the group.

"Please wait a second!" pleaded Professor Chronos.

THUD!

Daichi, Shou, Hayato, and Jaden groaned a bit in discomfort and slight pain, having just been knocked face-flat onto the ground by Professor Chronos in a way to stop them. (2) Jaden pushed herself off the ground a bit and looked perplexed at Professor Chronos.

"What are you doing?" she asked, slightly miffed.

Professor Chronos looked wide-eyed at the group, worried about the missing deck and the fact that he was supposed to have been watching over it.

"If word of this goes out, I'll be held responsible for it-_no ne_!" said Professor Chronos.

Daichi looked at Professor Chronos and said, "That's why we have to hurry!"

"He's right!" said Hayato. "If the Principal knows…"

Shou rubbed the back of his head before he looked back at Professor Chronos.

"Maybe he's trying to fool us!" remarked Shou.

Professor Chronos was brought to tears, anxiety finally getting to him as well as concern of the missing Duel King's deck and the fact that he was a prime suspect of it. Well, now was a good time as any to start defending himself…

"I'm telling you, that's not it-_no ne_!" wailed Professor Chronos. "It wasn't me-_no ne_! It wasn't-_no ne_…"

Jaden blinked as she stared at Professor Chronos for a few seconds before turning her gaze onto the glass case. She already knew Chronos was telling the truth, having put two and two together from when she first saw the broken glass case.

"We knew that from the beginning, you know," Jaden remarked.

Professor Chronos looked perplexed at Jaden.

"Really?" he asked, earning a nod from the gender-mistaken girl in response.

Of all the people, it had to be Jaden who actually believed him…it wasn't that Chronos was annoyed, it was just…shocking. The professor had been trying to get Jaden in trouble or expelled ever since the gender-mistaken girl defeated him in a duel. Couldn't she see that he hated her?

"There'd be no need for you to break the glass case, right, Professor?" questioned Jaden.

Professor Chronos snapped out of his thoughts after hearing Jaden's observant comment. He blinked and nodded as he got up from the floor.

"T-That's right-_na no ne_," Professor Chronos said as he reached into his jacket and took out a key, which he held up for the group to see. "I have the key to the glass case here-_no ne_."

Jaden stood up and adjusted her shirt as her friends got up from the ground. Afterwards, she looked at Professor Chronos and said, "We haven't run out of time. Let's find the thief!"

Daichi, Shou, and Hayato nodded in agreement with Jaden as they said, "Right!"

Professor Chronos had been biting on his handkerchief like he usually did under stress and anxiety as tears streamed down his eyes. At first, he was concerned, but now…he was rather touched with the fact that Jaden was the one that had been willing to defend him and it made him a bit emotional. Jaden blinked as Professor Chronos smiled at her in gratitude. Well, that was something you don't see everyday…

"Dropout boy!" Professor Chronos said in a surprisingly _real_ friendly tone (that's a first so far). "I'm counting on you all, Signores-_no ne_!"

And with that, the search for the missing Duel King's deck began as Jaden, Shou, Hayato, and Daichi ran out of the Main Academy Building.

Sometime later on the other side of the island by the seaside,

Currently looking over at the Duel King's deck, was Kagurazaka, having just finished stealing it a while ago. The Ra Yellow looked at the cards in awe, taking in the most notable ones the Duel King, Yugi Mutou, had been known to use.

Dark Magician…Dark Magician Girl…Kuriboh…

"Amazing…" Kagurazaka breathed. "These legendary cards…are in my hands!"

Kagurazaka grasped the green-colored scarf he wore around his neck and lowered it just enough to reveal the smirk that had been hidden behind the scarf. Just then, a very familiar blue-haired Osiris Red ran up to Kagurazaka, having spotted the Ra Yellow while he was out searching for the thief. Shou came to an abrupt stop on top of a large rock and yelled out as he tried to regain his balance to avoid from falling off the rock. It was a small drop down to the level where Kagurazaka stood, but it was just enough to make any landing painful (A/N To a small extent, but who gives a damn!). Thankfully, Shou managed to regain his balance and was now looking down at the Ra Yellow.

"Hey, you!" yelled Shou. "Did you steal the deck?"

Kagurazaka turned and looked up at Shou, his smirk widening in amusement.

"You're Shou Marufuji, huh?" said Kagurazaka. "Perfect timing."

Shou blinked and looked perplexed at Kagurazaka as the Ra Yellow held up a duel disk to him.

"I was just about to try this deck out, after all!" Kagurazaka said before he tossed the duel disk over to Shou. "You'll be my opponent!"

Shou caught the duel disk in his arms and replied, "Of course!"

Kagurazaka placed the deck in the duel disk he wore on his left arm and activated from its standby mode. Shou placed his deck into the duel disk (after putting it on, of course) and activated it to begin his duel with Kagurazaka. Both duelists faced each other on opposite sides as they stood on the seaside rocks.

A/N God, I feel so un-descriptive today…hey! Not my fault school kept me busy!

* * *

Meanwhile,

Hayato and Daichi met up with Jaden by the bridge after doing a good amount of searching the island for anything or anyone suspicious. Jaden looked at her friends, wondering if they had found anything.

"It's no good…" said Daichi.

Jaden frowned and looked at Hayato, who was currently trying to catch his breath. After a few moments, Hayato finally spoke.

"I didn't find anyone suspicious," said Hayato.

Jaden crossed her arms and sighed in dismay. Great…not only did she not find anything, Hayato and Daichi did, too.

"_As if things couldn't get any worse than this…"_ thought Jaden.

Suddenly, a very familiar voice screamed loudly enough to echo throughout the island up to a certain point, but just enough for Jaden, Daichi, and Hayato to hear it. Jaden blinked and immediately cursed at herself for even thinking that after she recognized the voice as Shou's. You'd think she'd learn?

"Damn it!" Jaden swore as she immediately starting running towards where the scream came from. "Shou's over there!"

Daichi and Hayato trailed after Jaden as her 'Aniki' instincts were kicking in at the sound of her little brother, or otouto, in distress. Damn her jinxing thoughts…

"_Damn my jinxing thoughts!"_ thought Jaden. "Shou! I'm coming!"

Daichi and Hayato found it a bit difficult to keep up with Jaden as she picked up the pace.

* * *

Meanwhile,

Shou laid back on the ground, having just fallen down after taken a beating in the duel with Kagurazaka. Okay…this outcome was rather ironic for Shou since he did defeat the Ra Yellow in a duel earlier today…what the hell went wrong?

Whatever it was, Kagurazaka didn't care as he gave a satisfied smirk with the outcome of the duel.

"Amazing…I'm really powerful!" Kagurazaka exclaimed, laughing afterwards.

At that current moment, Jaden ran into view and immediately went over to Shou's side whilst both Hayato and Daichi trailed after their gender-mistaken friend. Jaden looked at Shou as she knelt down by him, rather concerned since her jinxing thoughts got her friend into this situation.

"Shou!" exclaimed Jaden. "Are you all right?"

Shou opened his eyes and found himself face to face with Jaden.

"A-Aniki…" Shou said, a slight blush tingeing his cheeks once he realized how close Jaden was to his face.

Hayato noticed Shou's flustered look and decided to help him out by distancing Jaden away from him a bit. Shou sighed and flipped himself into a sitting position on the ground. He turned and looked at Kagurazaka, frowning a bit.

"I'm jealous…that guy's…" Shou said, trailing off as Daichi, Hayato, and Jaden looked at the same direction he was looking in.

Jaden blinked and scowled slightly at Kagurazaka, who was standing a few feet away from them on a boulder.

"Kagurazaka!" exclaimed Jaden. "You're the thief?"

No response from the Ra Yellow aside from the smirk on his face getting a bit on Jaden's nerves…Jaden clenched her teeth and jumped onto a few rocks before landing and stopping on top of a boulder.

"Give that deck back!" yelled Jaden. "Professor Chronos is going to be in serious trouble soon!"

Kagurazaka closed his eyes and sneered, irritating Jaden to a small extend.

"And if I refuse?" asked Kagurazaka.

Jaden growled slightly and tightened her fist.

"What?" Jaden exclaimed as she held up her tightened fist. _"Oh, he did not just go there!"_

Apparently, he just did…Kagurazaka looked at Jaden and grinned as he gestured at the deck in his duel disk.

"_This_ is the ultimate deck I've been looking for!" Kagurazaka explained before he tightened his fist. "After I…After thoroughly researching Yugi Mutou's dueling, I…can reproduce 100% of his dueling! I won't lose to anyone anymore! Even if it's Chronos, even if it's the Kaiser…Or anyone else!"

Jaden blinked as she stared at Kagurazaka for a few seconds. Afterwards, she nodded once and turned to Shou.

"Shou!" she said. "Hand me your Duel Disk."

Hayato, Daichi, and Shou looked questioningly at Jaden. They didn't like the look in her eye as she stared at Kagurazaka and since it could only mean one thing…she wasn't going to back down afterwards.

"If you're saying you won't lose to anyone, then duel me!" said Jaden. "And if you lose, you'll give that deck back like a man!"

That was so like Jaden to do that…Shou sighed and took out his deck from his duel disk. He might as well listen to Jaden…

Meanwhile with a certain Ra Yellow…no, not the smart one, the other one…Kagurazaka! (3)

Kagurazaka grinned as he stared at Jaden, finding the Osiris Red rather amusing.

"You really think you can beat me?" he asked.

Jaden rubbed the back of her head as she looked at Kagurazaka.

"I have no clue, but it's worth a shot!" Jaden said, smiling afterwards. "To think I'm playing against Yugi-san's deck…"

Jaden tightened her fists and smiled widened as she exclaimed, "I've never been this excited!"

Kagurazaka nodded and smiled as he replied, "All right. I'll take you on."

Kagurazaka held up his duel disk and moved his hand over by the deck (which he stole…ah, dur. (4).

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden blinked and immediately turned to Shou as the blue-haired Osiris Red tossed her his duel disk. She smiled and replied with a quick, "Right!" and caught her friend's duel disk in her arms. After a few adjustments and movements, Jaden was now ready to duel.

"Oh, yeah!" she exclaimed as she held up her left arm, in which Shou's duel disk resided on.

With both duelists set and ready, it was time to say, "Duel!"

Kagurazaka:

LP

4000

Jaden:

LP

4000

After both duelists drew their first five cards, Jaden, both very eager and ready, reached for her deck.

"We'll go with me first!" she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden took a quick look at her hand and picked out the card of her choice, which she then summoned onto the field.

"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in defense mode!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Burstinatrix appeared on the field with a red, fiery entrance before she knelt down into her defensive position.

DEF 800

"My turn's finished!" Jaden said, her gaze focused on Kagurazaka as she watched patiently to see what the Ra Yellow would do next.

"My turn!" Kagurazaka said, drawing a card. Kagurazaka looked at the card he drew and then at his hand before making a move. "I fuse Gazelle the Mythical Beast King and Berfomet from my hand!"

Two beast-like monsters appeared in front of Kagurazaka. A Polymerization card popped up in between the two beasts and caused two swirling vortexes to engulf the monsters as Polymerization's effect began to kick in, fusing the monsters together.

A/N 11-24-10 Damn, it's been a while…bear with me if I lag on or such. It's been three months…yeah…don't kill meh! DX

"Come forth!" exclaimed Kagurazaka. "Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!"

A two-headed, winged lion-like monster appeared on the field, roaring once afterwards.

ATK 2100

Jaden looked at Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast, slightly shocked after seeing his ATK.

"2100 ATK right off the bat?" exclaimed Jaden.

Jaden wasn't the only one shocked with Chimera's ATK, seeing as her friends were currently staring at the monster agape.

"Go, Chimera!" said Kagurazaka. "Impact Dash!"

Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast growled slightly as he pounced on Burstinatrix, sending the red-clad Elemental Hero onto the ground on her back, destroying her. Jaden clenched her teeth and stared at Kagurazaka, both duelists going into a mutual moment of silence.

As this went on, Hayato looked down at Shou and asked, "Shou, you battled him, didn't you? Give Jaden some advice!"

Shou smiled somewhat awkwardly as he looked up at Hayato.

"Well, I, uh…got beaten with just Chimera…" Shou admitted, earning a rather surprised reaction from Hayato.

Hayato quickly recovered from his shock as he said, "Still, if he's an opponent who beat you once, Shou, then Jaden should be all right. A powerful deck needs high-leveled tactics."

Daichi overheard the conversation going on between Hayato and Shou. He crossed his arms and kept his gaze focused on the duel.

"We'll see about that," he remarked, earning questioning looks from Hayato and Shou. Noticing his friends' perplexed stares, he explained, "Kagurazaka has too good of a memory, so the decks he makes himself are unconsciously based on the decks of others. That possesses him and makes him always lose his matches. When he imitates a deck…he remembers the characteristics of another's deck in an instant."

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Daichi's face as he continued on, "From his deck, he can even read into the personality of the duelist who built it, and reproduce those tactics. If the deck he has now is the strongest…then, right now, he's what you'd call an invincible duelist!" (5)

As much as Jaden loved to hear Misawa's explanations (which she both meant in a sarcastic and literal way), this was not the time for her to believe everything the Ra Yellow just explained…well, everything involving the 'invincible duelist' part. Everything else he said…she'll take that into mind, but first! It was her turn…and with that turn, she fused Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman to summon…

"I summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" said Jaden.

A bolt of lightning struck down in front of Jaden, which not long afterwards, Thunder Giant appeared on the field.

ATK 2400

"And I activate Thunder Giant's special effect!" said Jaden. "It destroys one monster that has a lower original ATK than this card! Vapor Spark!"

Thunder Giant held out his left hand and yelled out as he sent out a shockwave of electrical energy at Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast. The electrical energy engulfed Chimera for a few moments before vaporizing him, leaving a cloud of smoke behind in the aftermath. Kagurazaka shielded himself with his right arm, lowering it only when the smoke cleared.

"I activate Chimera's special effect!" said Kagurazaka. "When this card is destroyed, I can special-summon a Berfomet or Gazelle in my Graveyard! Be reborn, Berfomet!"

Kagurazaka's graveyard glowed as Berfomet popped out and appeared onto the field in defense mode.

DEF 1800

Jaden held up her fist as she stared somewhat sternly at Kagurazaka.

"I still have my attack left!" she said, holding out her hand afterwards. "Thunder Giant! Voltic Thunder!"

Thunder Giant tightened his fists as he charged up an attack before he held out his left hand, aimed at Berfomet. Yellow, electrical energy shot out of the palm of Thunder Giant's hand and went straight after Berfomet, destroying him.

"_That's Yugi-san's deck, all right,"_ Jaden thought, her somewhat stern look softened as she smiled at Kagurazaka. _"It won't be that easy to hit him with damage."_

"My turn," Kagurazaka said, drawing a card. "I set one card face-down."

Kagurazaka set one card face-down before reaching over to his hand.

"From my hand, I activate the Magic card, Monster Reincarnation!" he said, smiling afterwards as he explained the card's effect. "This card let's me discard a card from my hand to add a monster in my Graveyard to my hand."

Kagurazaka discarded a card into his Graveyard, in which afterwards, a card was ejected out of it. The Ra Yellow took the card and held it up.

"From my Graveyard, I'll add Gazelle the Mythical Beast King to my hand, and then summon it!" said Kagurazaka.

Gazelle the Mythical Beast King appeared on the field in attack mode.

ATK 1500

"And next, I'll activate the Magic card, Swords of Revealing Light!" Kagurazaka said, holding up said Magic card.

Jaden clenched her teeth as she _knew_ what the effect of Swords of Revealing Light did since she _did_ happen to own a magic card of the same name. A green, luminescent light glowed above Jaden and Thunder Giant for a few seconds before an array of light-comprised swords rained down around Jaden and Thunder Giant. As Thunder Giant looked to his left and right at the swords, a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face.

"My field, it's—" she said before Kagurazaka cut her off.

"With this, your monsters can't attack for three turns!" said Kagurazaka.

Okay, it was official…Jaden was somewhat nervous.

"_No!"_ thought Jaden. _"Yuki-kun does not get nervous over a Magic card! Now shake it off and think!"_

And once again, Jaden's stubbornness proved its worth to her that it's something not to resent. Especially since Jaden's slight anxiety over Swords of Revealing Light disappeared as an idea popped up in mind.

"Swords of Revealing Light…" said Jaden. "There has to be a way to destroy it!"

Jaden reached for her deck.

"My turn!" she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Glancing quickly at the card she drew, Jaden put the card, Dark Catapulter, into play in defense mode.

DEF 1500

Hayato smiled and complimented, "Nice move, Jaden!"

Shou blinked and looked at Hayato, perplexed. Hayato saw Shou's confused look and explained, "Dark Catapulter has an effect that destroys a Magic card on the next turn!"

Shou smiled in comprehension and focused his gaze back on the duel. Unfortunately for him, Hayato, and Jaden…especially Jaden, Kagurazaka happened to have a trick up his sleeve (specifically, on his field). Kagurazaka grinned and laughed a bit.

"I've been waiting for you to summon a new monster," said Kagurazaka. "I now activate the Trap card, Dark Renewal!"

The face-down card on Kagurazaka's field flipped up as said Ra Yellow began to explain the effects.

"When my opponent summons a monster, this card takes that monster's soul and one of my monsters…" explained Kagurazaka, "…to revive one Spellcaster-type monster in my graveyard."

This did not look good, but hold on a sec…

"A Spellcaster-type from your Graveyard?" said Jaden. "No way! Your Graveyard only has Chimera and Berfomet in it!"

Kagurazaka's grin widened.

"No, I had one there," he said. "My chance to put a Spellcaster-type monster in my Graveyard…"

Realization then hit Jaden…the card Kagurazaka discarded into his graveyard when he used Monster Reincarnation.

"Back _then_…" said Jaden. _"Well…crap…"_

A purple and yellow coffin ascended from the ground with black smoke pouring down from it to the ground.

"I sacrifice Gazelle and Dark Catapulter!" said Kagurazaka.

The coffin opened up and pulled in Gazelle and Dark Catapulter into it in. Afterwards, the coffin closed back up.

"Come forth!" said Kagurazaka. "Dark Magician!"

The coffin opened up once more to reveal the said Spellcaster-type Monster that had been in Kagurazaka's graveyard. A fair-skinned, purple-haired young man clad in purple robes with a green staff (scepter, staff…same damn thing!) in his hand appeared right out of the coffin.

ATK 2500

A/N Must…resist…urge…to fangirl! DX (Please ignore KD, for she is acting like an idiot).

Jaden smiled as she stared at the purple-clad mage that was Dark Magician in awe.

"Dark Magician…" she said, awestruck with the sight of Dark Magician. "He's what you could call the symbol of Yugi-san's deck!"

Shou's eyes sparkled in awe as he said, "Dark Magician."

Hayato and Daichi just stared on at what could also be called Yugi's signature card.

"It's the first time I've seen the real thing!" said Hayato.

Shou looked at Hayato, questioningly.

"Didn't you see him in the _Pegasus' Island_ DVD?" asked Shou.

"Aside from that," added Hayato.

Daichi uncrossed his arms and gave a small smile as he stared at Kagurazaka.

"_Not bad, Kagurazaka,"_ he thought. _"From the start of the duel, you wasted no time in setting up that Dark Renewal. To think you're playing so well with this deck after just taking a glimpse at it…"_

Daichi snapped out of his thoughts as Jaden spoke up, continuing her turn.

"I switch Thunder Giant to defense mode!" she said, the giant Elemental Hero one her field switching into his defensive position.

DEF 1500

"My turn's finished," said Jaden.

"My turn!" Kagurazaka said, drawing a card. "I activate the Magic card, Thousand Knives!"

After placing the card he just finished drawing into a slot in his duel disk, many knives started to appear in thin air behind Dark Magician.

"When I have Dark Magician on my field, this card destroys an opposing monster!" explained Kagurazaka.

Dark Magician waved his staff and a glowing, yellow aura appeared on the many knives behind him. Almost immediately after the knives began glowing did they start to move…rather quickly…and right towards Thunder Giant!

"_This doesn't look good…"_ thought Jaden.

Jaden shielded herself from the explosion caused by the impact of the Thousand Knives on Thunder Giant (which destroyed him). She grunted slightly from the force of the explosion and closed her eyes to avoid the smoke.

"Amazing!" said Shou. "In just an instant, Aniki's Thunder Giant was…"

Jaden's eye twitched slightly at Shou's outburst. Just whose side was he on, anyways?

"This is no time to be impressed!" snapped Hayato.

Moving on with the duel…

Kagurazaka laughed and continued on, "With this, you've been left with no monsters on your field."

Jaden narrowed her eyes and sighed in dismay. "Look, can you not point out the obvious?"

Kagurazaka smirked and replied, "No."

Jaden growled slightly and muttered, "Bastard…"

"Dark Magician!" said Kagurazaka. "Direct attack! Black Magic!"

Dark Magician charged up a green-colored sphere of magical energy with his staff before sending the sphere right at Jaden. Jaden let out a pained yell as the simulated pain took its effect. This definitely caught Daichi, Shou, and Hayato's attention.

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

"Jaden!" exclaimed Hayato.

Jaden hunched over in pain (why does simulated pain have to hurt so much sometimes…) from the attack. As Jaden recovered from her simulated pain ordeal, her life points decreased by 2500 (Dark Magician's ATK), leaving her with only 1500 left.

Jaden:

LP

1500

Jaden shook her head and stood up, afterwards remarking, "That's strong!"

Kagurazaka laughed at Jaden causing the Osiris Red's eye to twitch slightly.

"It's 1000 years too early for a duelist your level to beat me," said Kagurazaka.

It took all of Jaden's will power to not snap at that remark…

"You're talking an awful lot with that deck!" Jaden said, clenching her teeth afterwards. _"But that's Yugi-san's deck, all right…I can't find any blind spots! At this rate, I'll really be in trouble!"_

Jaden reached for her deck and exclaimed, "My turn!"

Jaden stared at her deck, slightly concerned, though determined.

"_I have to hang in there!"_ she thought, drawing a card. After taking a quick look at her hand, Jaden picked out one of the cards. "I summon Friendog in defense mode!"

A black, machine-like dog appeared on Jaden's side of the field in defense mode.

DEF 1200

"My turn's finished!" said Jaden.

Meanwhile (back with Jaden's guy friends),

Daichi continued to watch the duel, crossing his arms as he began to analyze the match.

"This is bad…" said Daichi. "Jaden's Fusion deck has explosive force. With more cards added to his hand, if he uses them up, it'll be that much more against him."

Back to the duel,

Kagurazaka smirked at Jaden, earning a rather displeased stare from him (he doesn't know…screw it! This is the last time you'll see this message in parentheses!).

"_Time to screw with him…"_ thought Kagurazaka. "It looks like you're at the end of your rope."

Jaden clenched her teeth and growled. "Screw off!"

Yes, very amusing…to Kagurazaka, that is. For Jaden…she just found it plain annoying. Friggin' sadist…

"My turn!" Kagurazaka said and not even a few seconds after drawing a card did he send Dark Magician to attack. "Dark Magician, destroy that monster! Black Magic!"

"I prefer to call him a 'dog' and not a monster," said Jaden.

Kagurazaka looked strangely at Jaden and remarked, "Does it even matter?"

"To me it does, now back off!" snapped Jaden. "And oh, crap…"

"Oh, crap" was right since Dark Magician just sent out a green sphere of magical energy out at Friendog. The poor guy-er, dog… never stood a chance against magic…thankfully, Friendog's demise had a positive effect for Jaden (Friendog's sacrifice will not be forgotten).

"Now, I activate Friendog's special effect!" Jaden said, reaching for her graveyard. "When Friendog is sent to the Graveyard, I add an Elemental Hero and Polymerization card in my Graveyard to my hand."

And as the explanation Jaden gave said, two cards, a Polymerization and Elemental Hero, were ejected from her graveyard. Kagurazaka smirked and couldn't help but say, "Clever."

Jaden smiled and nodded once in approval. _"Damn straight…"_

"My turn's finished," said Kagurazaka.

Jaden let out a sigh, blinking a few times when she realized that she may have been holding her breath.

"_Am I…really that nervous?"_ thought Jaden.

Hayato, being the older brother figure Jaden currently had who was in her dorm, decided to give Jaden some support. "Hang in there Jaden! The effect of Swords of Revealing Light ends this turn!"

Jaden blinked and nodded as she thought, "That's right!"

"If that happens, you'll have a chance to turn it around!" added Hayato.

Jaden (pepped up from Hayato's outburst) reached for her deck and exclaimed, "Here goes! My turn!"

After drawing a card, Jaden decided to summon the Elemental Hero Friendog's special effect brought back from the graveyard.

"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Burstinatrix appeared once more on the field since the first turn in the same defensive position.

DEF 800

"Next, I'll set one card face-down, finishing my turn!" Jaden said, a face-down card appearing on her field after setting a card. Afterwards, Jaden looked at Dark Magician one more time before focusing her gaze on her deck. _"Dark Magician's ATK is 2500…Right now, the only monster I have in my deck with an ATK higher than Dark Magician's…"_

Jaden looked at her hand and focused on the card that she was currently thinking about.

"…_is this 2600-ATK Edgeman!" _thought Jaden. _"This match is hanging on whether I can call him out or not! C'mon Yuki-kun, compared to the LV-88 Pikachu…this is nothing!"_ (6)

And yet, why did Jaden find that slightly unbelievable… (7)

"Okay, it's been three turns!" said Daichi.

"So now, Swords of Revealing Light are destroyed," said Hayato.

Shou smiled and held up his fist.

"That's right!" he exclaimed. "Now, Aniki's able to wage attacks!"

Coincidentally, the moment all three of Jaden's friends mention about the third turn and Swords of Revealing Light, the swords surrounding Jaden and her field disappeared. Kagurazaka overheard and noticed as well since the Swords of Revealing Light Magic card on his field disappeared.

"That's if he even has a next turn coming to him, though…" Kagurazaka remarked, smirking as he drew a card from his deck. Not even bothering once to look at the card he drew, Kagurazaka pointed at Elemental Hero Burstinatrix and yelled, "Dark Magician! Attack his monster!"

Jaden grinned and said, "I was waiting for this moment! Trap, activate!"

The face-down card on Jaden's field flipped over face-up.

"A Hero Emerges!" said Jaden. "This card activates when my opponent declares an attack!" Jaden held up her hand and continued on, "A card's randomly selected from my hand, and if it's a monster, I can special-summon it! Now choose!"

And that is where Jaden began to silently pray to the god that was Osiris that the card Kagurazaka would choose would be the one on her far right…especially since it was the only monster in her hand. Kagurazaka closed his eyes and smirked.

"How makeshift…" said Kagurazaka.

Jaden growled and snapped, "Shut up and pick! Jerk…"

Kagurazaka sneered and pointed at the card of his choice, "In that case, the first one to the left."

"My left or your left?" asked Jaden. _"Dammit, not again…"_

"My left," Kagurazaka replied, slightly annoyed. _"Like it's going to make a difference…"_

How wrong Kagurazaka was when he saw the wide smile on Jaden's face.

"Bingo!" she exclaimed, picking out Elemental Hero Edgeman's card out of her hand. _"Thank you, Osiris! I'll never regret sleeping through the last part of the test that got me into your dorm…"_ (8)

Kagurazaka's breath hitched as he saw the card Jaden held out for him to see. It was a monster…

"Come forth, Elemental Hero Edgeman!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Edgeman, the golden armored-clad Elemental Hero, appeared on the field in attack mode.

ATK 2600

Shou smiled again and held up his fist.

"All right!" he happily exclaimed. "His ATK is higher than Dark Magician's!"

Daichi smiled and decided to add, "With no Gods in that deck, Dark Magician is the ace in Yugi's deck."

Dark Magician and Edgeman stared down at each other as their ATK popped up, the 100 ATK difference somewhat making it a bit of a big deal.

Dark Magician: ATK 2500

Edgeman: ATK 2600

"Really, if he can beat it, Jaden might have a chance!" said Daichi.

Kagurazaka overheard and began to laugh, earning Jaden's clueless and perplexed look.

"That small-fry monster's my ace?" said Kagurazaka. "You're moving me to tears!"

"What?" exclaimed Jaden. _"Did he just…oh, he is so gonna get it…nobody calls Dark Magician a small-fry and gets away with it under my watch!"_

"This deck is far beyond your wildest imagination!" explained Kagurazaka. "And it can hold its own, even without God cards! From my hand, I activate the Instant Magic, Dedication through Light and Darkness!"

Jaden clenched her teeth. _"Aw, crap…forgot about that card…"_

"By sacrificing a Dark Magician on my field, this cards summons, from my hand, Graveyard, or deck…" Kagurazaka explained as a purple, shadowy aura engulfed Dark Magician and dragged him down, "…Dark Magician of Chaos!"

Daichi, Hayato, and Shou all watched in awe and shock…mostly shock since, they too (like Jaden), forgot that Yugi's deck contained that card and monster.

"Dark Magician…" Shou said, trailing off as Hayato finished for him, "…of Chaos…"

"A legendary magician, and one of the highest-leveled monsters…" said Daichi.

Kagurazaka overheard and smirked as he held up Dark Magician of Chaos's card.

"That's right," he said. "You will all now witness a legend. Come forth, Dark Magician of Chaos!"

In a bright, glowing light, the Dark Magician of Chaos made his appearance onto the field.

A/N As much as I would love to describe this sexy card (don't judge me! DX), I can't do that decently enough for me to type it. Hell! I don't even think my description is even worthy enough to be typed since I'm just probably going to say…see, I can't even get a start at all! Point made.

"When this card is successfully summoned, I add one Magic Card in my Graveyard to my hand!" Kagurazaka continued on whilst grabbing the Magic card his Graveyard ejected. "And Dark Magician of Chaos's ATK is higher than Dark Magician's!"

ATK 2800

"2800 points!" said Kagurazaka.

Daichi kept his calm composure while Shou and Hayato…well, they sort of freaked out and were currently staring at Dark Magician of Chaos's ATK agape. Jaden was also shocked with the three-hundred point difference.

"2800?" exclaimed Jaden. _"Oh, god…it's the level 88 Pikachu all over again…"_

Kagurazaka smirked and directed Dark Magician of Chaos at Edgeman.

"Take this!" exclaimed Kagurazaka. "Dark Magician of Chaos's attack! Destructive Spell!"

Dark Magician of Chaos aimed his staff at Edgeman as a blue, electrical-like crackle of magical energy charged up on the top of the staff. After a few seconds, Dark Magician of Chaos sent the magical sphere of energy that was charged up at Edgeman, destroying the golden-armored Elemental Hero. Jaden shielded herself from the small explosion Edgeman's destruction caused.

Jaden:

LP

1300

"Told you, didn't I?" Kagurazaka said, grinning. "That it's 1000 years too early for a duelist of your level to beat me?"

Jaden clenched her teeth and tightened her fist as she stared at Kagurazaka.

"This strength…" said Jaden. _"The opponent I'm facing…is really…Yugi Mutou!"_

Kagurazaka laughed in a somewhat haughty manner as a silhouette of Yugi Mutou appeared behind him. Jaden blinked and shook her head.

"_This is no time for hallucinating!"_ thought Jaden.

Jaden:

LP

1300

Kagurazaka:

LP

4000

"_Now you're just mocking me…damn Ra Yellow…" _thought Jaden. (9) _"Though on the hindsight, this is rather exciting!"_

Yes, leave it to Jaden to never give up being optimistic during a duel. One of the many reasons why certain duelists were irritated when dueling this Osiris Red, specifically, a certain Obelisk Blue who left Duel Academy…you know who I'm talking about.

Shou looked at Jaden rather concerned as he said, "Aniki's ace card just…"

"Kagurazaka has the 2800-ATK Black Magician of Chaos on his field," Daichi said, having overheard Shou. "To make matters worse, he's taken no damage so far. In a short time, this has turned into one difficult situation to win over."

Jaden continued to stare at Kagurazaka, the silhouette of Yugi Mutou appearing over the Ra Yellow once again, only this time…it stayed and hid Kagurazaka's true form.

"I'm really fighting…" Jaden said, grinning afterwards as she felt slightly happy and was rather pumped up. "If that's really Yugi-san, the Duel King…All right! I'm all fired up!"

This was it…this is where all her skill as a duelist built up in the past seven and a half years in her life was finally going to pay up! Yeah!

…oh, she was so screwed if she messed up! _IF_ she messed up, that is.

"_What are the chances of that?"_ thought Jaden. _"Wait, on second thought…never mind."_

Luck did have a bipolar change of heart when in a duel, so one little thing can turn the whole duel over in just a mere turn or so…

"My turn!" Jaden said, drawing a card. The Osiris Red glanced at her card, her eyes widening after seeing that it was Winged Kuriboh. "Winged Kuriboh!"

Winged Kuriboh reacted by closing his eyes and giving a rather happy, "Kuri kuri!"

Jaden smiled and looked at Winged Kuriboh.

"Winged Kuriboh, you're glad to be fighting against Yugi-san's deck too, huh?" asked Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh replied with a "Kuri!"

"I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" Jaden said, setting Winged Kuriboh's card on her duel disk.

Winged Kuriboh appeared on the field right next to Burstinatrix with a 'Kuri kuri'.

DEF 200

"Next, I'll set one card face-down, finishing my turn!" said Jaden.

Kagurazaka looked at Winged Kuriboh and then at Jaden.

"Winged Kuriboh, is it?" he said, reaching for his (not really his) deck. "My turn! Draw!"

Kagurazaka drew a card and looked at it, smiling afterwards.

"In that case, I'll also summon this," he said, setting down the card on his duel disk.

And right next to Dark Magician of Chaos, appeared the most notable, and of course, the most adorable (in Jaden's opinion) monster in Yugi-san's deck…the brown furball that was…

"Kuriboh!" said Kagurazaka.

ATK 300

"Kuri kuri!" said Kuriboh.

Shou looked perplexed at Kuriboh.

"Kuriboh?" he said questioningly.

"Go, Dark Magician of Chaos!" said Kagurazaka. "Attack Burstinatrix!"

Burstinatrix kept her composure as Dark Magician of Chaos charged towards her. Jaden was sure to have something up her sleeve…figuratively (or else that'd be cheating and cheating is frowned upon duelists…yeah…moving on!).

And Jaden did!

"Trap, activate!" said Jaden. "Super Junior Showdown! When my opponent attacks, this negates that battle…and makes my opponent's lowest-ATK monster battle my lowest-DEF monster, finishing your battle! So, the ones fighting are Kuriboh and Winged Kuriboh!"

Winged Kuriboh's fur puffed out after hearing Jaden's explanation. This seemed to have caught Jaden's attention and almost caused the Osiris Red to squeal in delight…_almost_. Aside from that, currently staring at both Kuriboh and Winged Kuriboh…were Daichi, Shou, and Hayato. All three of Jaden's friends knew where the gender-mistaken girl obtained her Winged Kuriboh and seeing the winged furball up against his non-winged counterpart (the one who originally came before him)…it was rather interesting to watch.

"It's a Kuriboh showdown!" exclaimed Hayato.

Jaden looked at the trap card she activated and then at Winged Kuriboh.

"_Tch…never thought I'd used this Trap card again in a situation like this…"_ thought Jaden. _"Oh, well…a strategy's a strategy…I'll make it up to him once this is over."_

Kuriboh's fur puffed up and his violet-colored eyes stared sternly at Winged Kuriboh as he charged at his winged opponent.

"Kuri kuri!" he said in a somewhat aggressive tone.

Winged Kuriboh kept his guard, his eyes staring down at Kuriboh and, despite the 100-point difference on him…he was not afraid. Apparently, Jaden's stubbornness was beginning to rub off as well as her ability to keep her composure (unless given a rather nasty scare or unexpected surprise). Though, that didn't keep him from yelling out "Kuri!" when Kuriboh charged right into him, destroying the winged furball.

"Tch…got in my way, huh?" said Kagurazaka.

Jaden smirked and replied, "Well, what else am I supposed to do? You've pretty much got me beaten and you just expect me to give up? As if!"

Kagurazaka glared at Jaden and set down a card face-down, ending his turn. Kuriboh returned back to Kagurazaka's field with a "Kuri kuri!"

Daichi, as usual, was analyzing the duel between Kagurazaka and Jaden. So far, the current results have proved some of Daichi's earlier inferences false. It was quite intriguing…though, still…

"_He managed to avoid that attack, but…"_ thought Daichi. _"At this rate, you'll be done for, Jaden!"_

Jaden got a sudden urge to snap at Daichi, but she waved off the feeling. Besides, it _was_ her turn and she had to start it since time _was_ of the essence to keep Professor Chronos from getting into trouble. As much as Professor Chronos was hard on Jaden and seemed to enjoy getting the Osiris Red in trouble or try to get her into it…Jaden could really live with it.

"My turn!" Jaden said, drawing a card. "I activate the Magic card, Pot of Greed!"

Jaden drew two cards from her deck and took a quick look at them. She gave a small smile and continued on, "And then, I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman!"

The white-caped, blue-clad Elemental Hero (that was Bubbleman) appeared on the field next to Burstinatrix.

ATK 800

A slot on the side of Jaden's duel disk slid up as the gender-mistaken girl held the card she was going to place in the slot in her hand.

"Next, I activate the Field Magic, Skyscraper!" Jaden said, placing the card in the Field Magic slot.

The ground started to quake as huge buildings began to emerge from the ground. Kagurazaka stared at the emerging buildings in question and shock.

"What?" he exclaimed. "The field is being covered by these high-rise…?"

Jaden wagged her finger at Kagurazaka and replied, "They're called skyscrapers!" Afterwards, she stuck out her tongue with a "Nyah!" earning an enraged glare from the Ra Yellow. Yup! She still got it!

"_That'll teach him for trying to mess with me!"_ said Jaden. _"That's for Winged Kuriboh, right there!"_

And it also helped that her otouto added more to this by exclaiming out, "This is Aniki's field!"

Jaden smiled and pointed her index finger at Kagurazaka.

"When a Hero battles an opponent that's stronger than them, this field ups their ATK by 1000 points!" Jaden explained, moving her hand to the side before tightening up her fist.

Kagurazaka stuttered, "T-These makeshift tricks…"

Jaden smiled and held out another card. "The Equip Magic, Bubble Shot!"

Bubbleman held up his hand as a blue, bazooka-like weapon with red ends and ammunition in the shape of a vial of what seemed to be blue liquid. Bubbleman maneuvered his hold on his weapon and aimed it well at Jaden's opponent. Jaden smiled and held up her fist.

"This ups Bubbleman's ATK by 800 points!" explained Jaden. "And, When Bubbleman's destroyed, this card becomes his substitute!"

Bubbleman smiled as his ATK increased.

ATK: Previously, 800

Now…1600!

Jaden smiled as she ordered Bubbleman to attack.

"Bubbleman!" said Jaden. "Use your Bubble Shot on Kuriboh!"

Bubbleman took aim at Kuriboh and pulled the trigger, sending out a bubble shot directly at the furball. This excited Shou, seeing as for that past turns, he's been watching his Aniki taking damage from Kagurazaka with him-er, her dealing no damage on the Ra Yellow whatsoever. It was a nice change to see that…

"If this attack works, he'll hit him with 1300 damage!" exclaimed Shou.

As the bubble shot headed straight towards Kuriboh, Kagurazaka smirked, finding Bubbleman's attack and Shou's outburst very amusing.

"We'll see about that," said Kagurazaka.

Jaden's breath hitched as Kagurazaka's comment had her stunned. Kagurazaka held out his hand and exclaimed, "Magic card, activate! Multiply!"

Kuriboh was replaced with four copies (clones!) of himself on the field. This surprised Jaden…slightly. She already knew Yugi-san's deck had that card, but of all the times…

"What?" she exclaimed. _"Now that's just too much of a coincidence…well, then again, so is my Mirage of Nightmares and Emergency Provisions combo. I still wonder how I pull that one off…"_ (10)

"There's so many Kuribohs!" exclaimed Shou.

Actually, compared to what Jaden and Shou saw in the _Pegasus's Island_ DVD…back then, when the rules were _so_ completely different…this situation had _nothing_ on the many Kuribohs Yugi-san's Multiply brought out! But still, it was more than two, so in a way…yeah…

"By sacrificing Kuriboh, Multiply summons Kuriboh Tokens onto all open Monster Zones!" explained Kagurazaka.

"_So that's what the new edition of Multiply does…" _thought Jaden. _"Tch…I knew I forgot to look something up after watching that DVD…"_

The four Kuriboh Tokens took up all the spaces on Kagurazaka's side of the field. The Dark Magician of Chaos stood in between two of them, his expression stoic…like a certain Obelisk Blue who usually resembled a sexy-no…supermegafoxyawesomehot bishie from a certain manga series involving a host club. (11)

DEF 200

Kagurazaka smirked and said, "And so, you'll be attacking…"

Jaden growled as Bubbleman's Bubble Shot destroyed a Kuriboh Token.

"Shit…" she swore, clenching her teeth when she noticed Kagurazaka's widening smirk.

Dang it! She _hated_ how much Kagurazaka was enjoying her irritation…

"Friggin' sadist Ra Yellow…" muttered Jaden. "I'll set one card face-down, ending my turn!"

Jaden exhaled, feeling slightly stressed for once in a duel that where her soul wasn't on the line. She rather enjoyed dueling, but this…this…the guy was enjoying her reactions, for Ra's sake! Just the way Manjoume did…strange, Jaden never thought that as an annoyance, just…

"With a lot more defense thank to that, it's like an iron wall!" exclaimed Hayato.

Jaden blinked and just realized that she had just gotten off track. She made a mental note to thank Hayato after this was over. Who knew where that thought was going towards…?

Daichi tightened his fist, a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

"_This is Yugi Mutou's deck…and what a deck it is!"_ thought Daichi. _"Its offense and defense…it has a perfect balance. At any rate, mastering this much of the deck…Kagurazaka's tactics are impressive, as well."_

"My turn," Kagurazaka said, drawing a card. "I activate the Magic card, Treasure from Heaven! Both players draw cards until they have six in their hands."

A short moment of silence ensued as the only sound made was from Kagurazaka and Jaden drawing cards from their decks. Kagurazaka looked at the cards in his hands and smirked as he picked and held one out.

"I special-summon Watapon," said Kagurazaka. "When this card is added to my hand with a Magic, Trap, or Monster effect, I can special-summon it to the field."

A pink, powder-puff like monster with big, blue eyes appeared on the field. It was…adorable…

"_Resist urge to squeal…"_ Jaden thought, which was really something hard to do.

"And, I'll sacrifice Watapon!" Kagurazaka continued on, which Jaden couldn't help but mutter, "Oh, thank god…"

"Come forth, Dark Magician Girl!" said Kagurazaka.

Watapon was sacrificed and replaced with a highly attractive, young blonde girl dressed in what seemed to be clothes similar to that of Dark Magician's…only it was pink and blue.

"Dark Magician Girl?" exclaimed Jaden.

Kagurazaka smirked and explained Dark Magician Girl's effect.

"For each Dark Magician that's in the Graveyard, Dark Magician Girl has her ATK raised by 300 points!" explained Kagurazaka.

A gentle, pink aura emanated from the Dark Magician Girl, her ATK increasing by the said amount Kagurazaka mentioned.

ATK: Previously, 2000

Now…2300!

Jaden blinked and despite having actually shown admiration for the Dark Magician Girl in her younger and current years, she frowned…

"Oh, no…no, just no…" thought Jaden. "Here it comes…"

Jaden looked at her Osiris Red roommate…her blue-haired Osiris Red roommate. She let out a slightly aggravated sigh when she saw Shou's face contorted into one of pure infatuation at the sight of seeing Dark Magician Girl. His eyes were glimmering with awe and an obvious blush tinged his cheeks as he dreamily sighed, "S-So cute!"

Dark Magician Girl seemed to have heard Shou as she directed her gaze at him and…flirtatiously winked at the blue-haired boy. A small heart formed from this wink and floated over to Shou until it came in contact with him. After impact, Shou's legs began to feel like jelly to him as spirals formed in his eyes and his face was red from blushing furiously.

"I want Aniki to win, but…I kinda just want to root for her…" Shou said, slightly dazed.

"No…no…no…" growled Jaden. "How dare you use attract on Shou…" (12)

Hayato scowled and was about to snap at Shou when suddenly, Jaden did it for him.

"_Baka_!" snapped Jaden. (13) "Shou, you're going to be hearing a lot from me tonight if you don't pull yourself together, ya hear? Control your emotions, dammit!"

This definitely got Shou to snap out of his infatuation and instead of trying to make an awkward apology, he took back what he said and rephrased it.

"I mean, Dark Magician Girl isn't the only thing in Yugi-san's deck, and tonight might be the only time we see her in person!" Shou exclaimed, obviously flushed with what Jaden told him.

"Tch…_baka_…" remarked Jaden.

Hayato sweat dropped as he slapped his hand on Shou's back, startling the blue-haired boy.

"Ack!" exclaimed Shou.

"Nice try, Shou," said Hayato. "Even flat-chest saw through that."

"I'm gonna let that one slide!" snapped Jaden.

Kagurazaka arched his brow at this remark. _"Flat-chest? Jaden was a guy…he's _supposed_ to not have a chest."_

Either way,Kagurazaka was deeply amused to have seen Jaden's reaction, followed by the ones his friends gave. It was a nice change from seeing Jaden's irritation aimed towards him…

"Go, Dark Magician of Chaos!" said Kagurazaka. "Attack Bubbleman!"

Dark Magician of Chaos leapt up into the air and shot out a sphere of magical energy aimed at Bubbleman. Bubbleman shielded himself from the attack by using his weapon as a shield, which was destroyed in Bubbleman's place. And since Bubble Shot was gone…Bubbleman's ATK decreased back to his original ATK.

ATK 800

Kagurazaka grinned and remarked, "I still have an attack left. Dark Magician Girl! Black Burning!"

Dark Magician Girl waved her staff in a rather flamboyant fashion before sending out a purple wave of magical energy at Bubbleman. Despite Bubbleman's destruction and Jaden's 500 life point loss, she still couldn't help but say, "Show off."

Dark Magician girl reacted by crossing her arms and huffing at Jaden, miffed with what she said.

Jaden:

LP

800

After seeing Dark Magician Girl's attack on Bubbleman and the life points she caused Jaden, Shou was impressed, and not to mention, he felt slightly deceived.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed. "Her looks give you the wrong idea of her strong power!"

Hayato nodded in agreement, his hand on his chin as he added, "'A beautiful rose has its thorn,' as they say."

Out of the three of Jaden's friends, only Daichi seemed to show some self control as he snapped at both Hayato and Shou, having seen Jaden's irritated expression.

"Oi, show some decency in front of Ichiban-kun!" snapped Daichi.

Hayato blinked and immediately glared at Shou.

"Geez, Shou, control your hormones," Hayato remarked.

Shou stuttered, "But I…"

"That's enough, Shou," said Daichi. "Don't make it any worse…Jaden-kun is already mad at you."

Shou blinked and nervously looked up at his Aniki, who was currently tapping her foot while keeping her hands on her hips. He laughed awkwardly whilst his female roommate made a motion with her middle and index finger saying that she was keeping an eye on Shou. This made Shou feel even more awkward…

Afterwards, Jaden stared at Dark Magician Girl and scowled at her. Sure, she still admired her as a powerful and not to mention, beautiful spellcaster, but when it came to messing with her guy friends' emotions…_oh_, it _was_ _**on**_.

"_Dark Magician Girl thinks she can pull of a Whitney…tch, typical,"_ thought Jaden. (14)

"Jaden, you got little life points left…make it count," said Daichi.

Jaden turned to Daichi and scowled.

"Don't tell me what to do!" snapped Jaden. "This is why I don't go to your study sessions with Shou!"

Daichi sweat dropped.

"Jaden…you go with Shou to keep certain Obelisk Blues off him and to eat dinner with us," said Daichi. "I think that pretty much contradicts what you just said…"

Jaden crossed her arms and huffed, "That's beside the point…and don't bring Shou into it!"

"Aniki…" whined Shou. "Let's talk about this later…"

"Fine…besides, I have a few tricks up my sleeve," said Jaden. "You better watch your back, Kagurazaka!"

Kagurazaka scowled and remarked, "What'd you say?"

Jaden grinned as she rubbed her nose with her index finger.

"I've got what I need for my win all set up," Jaden said, drawing a card. "My turn! I fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

One use of Polymerization later…

Jaden's signature Fusion Monster appeared on the gender-mistaken girl's side of the field.

ATK 2100

"And then, I activate the Magic card, Warrior's Return!" Jaden continued on, holding out said Magic card for Kagurazaka to see. "I'll bring back a Warrior-type monster from my Graveyard and summon it! Sparkman!"

Elemental Hero Sparkman appeared back onto the field, crackling with electricity like most of the times he appeared on the field.

ATK 1600

"And with Skyscraper's effect, Flame Wingman's ATK goes up by 1000 points when he battles!" said Jaden.

ATK: Previously, 2100

Now…3100!

This definitely took Kagurazaka by surprise.

"What?" he exclaimed. "His ATK is 3100?"

Shou held up his fists as he stared at his Aniki in awe. "Awesome!"

Hayato smiled, as did Daichi. This was certainly a nice turn of events…

"So now, his ATK is higher than Dark Magician of Chaos's!" said Hayato.

Jaden held out her hand as she directed Flame Wingman to attack.

"Go!" she exclaimed. "Skyscraper Shoot!"

Flames began to envelop Flame Wingman as he charged down at Dark Magician of Chaos. Dark Magician of Chaos was destroyed on impact, taking a small toll on Kagurazaka's life points.

Kagurazaka:

LP

3700

"And, I activate Flame Wingman's effect!" said Jaden. "It deals my opponent damage equal to the ATK of the monster destroyed in battle!"

Jaden grinned and pumped her fist at seeing Kagurazaka scowl.

"_Payback, bitch…"_ thought Jaden.

And thus, this is why one must never mess with this gender-mistaken Osiris Red…

Kagurazaka:

LP

900

"He did it!" Hayato exclaimed happily. "He took out the Dark Magician of Chaos!"

Of course she did-wait!

"Oh, my god…I actually did…" Jaden said to herself. "This is so going on my letter to Dad-er, never mind…"

Because then Jaden would get a phone call asking as to _why_ she was outside of her dorm late at night. And that, my dear friends, is not a good thing…well, to Jaden, it is. Moving on!

"It's a big turn-around, Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden grinned and rubbed her nose with her finger while keeping her right eye closed.

"Aw, yeah!" she exclaimed. "I've got this duel in a bag!"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Daichi's face.

"_Jaden Yuki…what a guy…"_ thought Daichi. _"From what I've seen, Kagurazaka hasn't missed a play once. And yet, to think he's in a close tie against Yugi Mutou's deck…It's true that he doesn't have any high-leveled monsters, but by using fusion, his deck has completely overcome that weakness."_

"Go, Sparkman!" said Jaden. "Spark Flash!"

Sparkman cupped his hands together and charged up electrical energy. After a certain amount of charging, Sparkman lifted the ball of electrical energy in his hand and threw it at a Kuriboh Token, vaporizing the furball.

"Next, I'll set two cards face-down, and then activate the Magic card, Emergency Provisions!" said Jaden. "By sending one of my face-down cards to the Graveyard, this card restores 1000 of my life points!"

One of Jaden's face-down cards disappeared from the field, in exchange for an increase in her life points.

Jaden:

LP

1800

"I've finished my turn!" Jaden said, biting her lip afterwards. _"I can't believe I'm even saying this, but…you finally cornered me Kagurazaka…No…Yugi-san! Even if he's pulling the strings, I'll be proud to remember fighting your deck!"_

Shou tightened his fists and exclaimed, "One more strike…one more strike, and he'll win!"

Kagurazaka scowled and remarked, "Don't think you can defeat my deck with something like this!"

Jaden blinked a few times before scowling.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" retorted Jaden.

Kagurazaka ignored Jaden as he drew a card from his deck. "Draw!"

One moment of silent later…

"I switch Dark Magician Girl to defense mode," said Kagurazaka.

Dark Magician Girl switched from her current offensive mode, into a defensive mode.

DEF 1700

"And, I activate the Magic card, Spider's Thread!" said Kagurazaka.

Jaden blinked owlishly as a silky, white thread headed towards her direction. She exclaimed when she saw that the thread was after her Graveyard as it took a card from her.

"What?" she exclaimed. _"Oh, don't tell me…I think I remember this card's effect…"_

Spider's Thread was a card that can add a card from an opponent's Graveyard that has been used one turn earlier to the player's hand. And if Jaden recalled, the card she used a turn ago that she knew would be of use to Kagurazaka was…

"Emergency Provisions," the Ra Yellow said as the white thread returned to him with the aforementioned Magic card. "I'll set two cards face-down, and activate the Magic card, Monster Reincarnation! Next, I'll activate Emergency Provisions!"

Jaden clenched her teeth as she saw Kagurazaka's two face-down cards and Monster Reincarnation go to the Graveyard.

"With the effect of Emergency Provisions, I regain life points," Kagurazaka said, smirking in satisfaction.

Kagurazaka:

LP

3900

"And with the effect of Monster Reincarnation, I'll be adding Kuriboh from my Graveyard to my hand!" said Kagurazaka. "I'll finish my turn with that!"

"_Why is it that most of the times I use Emergency Provisions, it's used against me?"_ thought Jaden.

"Aniki!" exclaimed Shou. "Hang in there!"

Jaden blinked and nodded as she reached for her deck to draw a card.

"My turn!" Jaden said, looking at the card she drew. "Great! Let's settle this right now! Flame Wingman! Skyscraper Shoot!"

Flame Wingman was set ablaze with flames as he charged at Dark Magician Girl. Jaden bit her lip. She didn't want to attack Dark Magician Girl, but she had to…at least she can count on Shou to control his emotions…but…

"_Why do I feel like I'm being screwed over?"_ thought Jaden.

After Dark Magician Girl's painful impact and destruction from Flame Wingman's attack, Jaden looked at Shou. Shou frowned as he stared at where Dark Magician Girl once was, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"Goodbye, Dark Magician Girl…" Shou lamented.

At least he didn't snap at Jaden for destroying her…

"_Good…"_ thought Jaden. "I activate Flame Wingman's effect! My opponent's hit with damage equal to the ATK of the monster destroyed in battle!"

Jaden paused for a few seconds before adding, "Give him hell, Flame Wingman."

Flame Wingman obeyed and landed in front of Kagurazaka, his right hand opened and aimed in front of the Ra Yellow's face. Jaden smirked a bit as flames shot out of the Elemental Hero's hand and into Kagurazaka's face.

"That was for insulting my deck…" said Jaden.

Yeah, she wasn't just going to let the guy go that easily…

Kagurazaka braced himself as the force of the flames sent him back a few centimeters. Smoke began to waft from his yellow blazer after the fire attack was over. That simulated pain _has_ got to hurt…

Kagurazaka:

LP

1600

Kagurazaka scowled and remarked, "However, I still have enough life points!"

"Nope!" said Jaden. "I still have my attacks going on! I activate the Quick Play Magic, De-fusion! Separate, Flame Wingman!"

Flame Wingman glowed brightly as Burstinatrix and Avian separated from him into their original separate beings again. This move stunned Daichi…

"Good move!" he exclaimed. "Monsters that were released from their fusion in the middle of battle are allowed to attack!"

Jaden smiled as she knew that already…that was another reason as to why she had De-fusion in her deck.

"_This_ is the Fusion Deck's ultimate attack pattern!" stated Daichi.

Jaden smiled as she directed her Elemental Heroes at Kagurazaka's Kuriboh Tokens.

"It's called unity!" said Jaden. "Go, Avian! Feather Break!"

Avian jumped up high and attacked a Kuriboh Token with a powerful kick. A fighting move against a Dark-type monster…

"It's super effective!" Jaden exclaimed. (15) "What…?"

Everyone just stared at her, a huge drop of sweat rolling down the back of their heads.

"Yellow really needs to stop training her Tyrogue…" Hayato sighed.

Daichi and Shou nodded in agreement. Moving on…

"Burstinatrix!" said Jaden. "Burst Fire!"

Burstinatrix leapt into the air, her hands cupped behind her head as she formed a fireball. She then used lobbed the fireball over her head at the last Kuriboh Token. While it may have missed, Burstinatrix was still shooting out fireballs at the furball until one of them finally hit the Kuriboh Token.

Jaden blinked and commented, "We have got to work on your aim…"

Burstinatrix turned away from Jaden, causing the brunette to stutter.

"No offense!" added Jaden.

Burstinatrix waved it off as a response, a response that most likely said, "None taken."

Jaden let out a sigh in relief…the last thing she needed was to fight with her cards (which she actually never did).

"Amazing, Aniki!" Shou exclaimed ecstatically.

Shou's fists were tightened in anticipation as he stared at his Aniki in awe. Hayato did likewise…only, instead of Aniki, it was Imouto-chan…may Jaden never learn of this nickname (an excerpt from one of Hayato's thoughts).

"With this, the monsters on his field were destroyed!" said Hayato.

Daichi just smiled as he added, "On top of that, Jaden's Sparkman has an attack left!"

"He's got 1600 of his life points left!" said Shou.

And Sparkman had 1600 ATK…you do the math…

Hayato pumped his fist into the air and said, "If this attack works, it'll be a win for Jaden!"

"Go, Sparkman!" said Jaden. "Spark Flash!"

Sparkman charged up an attack consisting of crackling, blue electricity, which he aimed and shot at Kagurazaka. Just when the electricity was going to come in contact with the Ra Yellow, at the last second…

"I'll activate this Monster Effect!" Kagurazaka said, holding up Kuriboh's card. "Kuriboh!"

Said brown furball immediately appeared on the field, shielding Kagurazaka from Sparkman's attack.

"What?" exclaimed Jaden.

"Kuriboh has an effect that reduces battle damage to zero once by discarding it from my hand," explained Kagurazaka. "Did you forget that I added Kuriboh from my Graveyard to my hand with Monster Reincarnation?"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face.

"That's right!" said Jaden. "Damn it…"

Kagurazaka looked at his duel disk, his expression softening.

"Thank you, Kuriboh," he said. "You're the monster I chose thousands of years ago, all right."

A silhouette of Kuriboh appeared on Kagurazaka's duel disk.

"I've been saved so many times by you," Kagurazaka added.

Kuriboh sweat dropped and let out an awkward, "Kuri…"

**DOT DOT DOT…**

"What the hell is he thinking?" snapped Shou. "Didn't he steal that deck?"

Shou had been snapped at his Aniki, had to deal with being beaten in just a few turns, and now…now this? What…the…heck…?

A small bead of sweat rolled down the sides of both Daichi and Hayato's faces. This was definitely awkward in some sense.

"He really thinks he's become Yugi Mutou…" said Hayato.

And to makes things even more awkward…

"Kuriboh, I won't let the chance you gave me go to waste," said Kagurazaka. "My turn!"

Kagurazaka drew a card and looked at it, his expression changing into a slightly smug one.

"Here goes," said Kagurazaka. "This turn, you'll really get to know this deck's true power!"

Jaden let out a shaky breath. This didn't look good…

"I remove one Dark-attribute and one Light-attribute monster from my Graveyard," Kagurazaka said as he held up a card.

Kuriboh and Watapon appeared on the field, side-by-side. Jaden blinked owlishly.

"Huh?" said Jaden. "You're removing a Dark and Light monster from your—crap!"

This took Jaden by complete surprise as realization suddenly hit her. Memories began flooding into her head as she recalled that there were certain summoning conditions…specifically, ritual summoning conditions that she recalled that required the removal of a Dark and Light monster.

"What kind of special summoning conditions are these?" asked Shou.

"Such a monster can't…" said Hayato.

Jaden turned to her friends and scowled at them, a bead of sweat running down the side of her face.

"Don't you remember?" asked Jaden.

Silence from Shou and Hayato…

Sweat drop from Jaden and a comment that was, "Tch…_idiots_…"

Daichi, on the other hand, was actually trying to remember as he also seemed to recall certain summoning conditions, but the question was…which one?

"_A Light and Dark monster…"_ thought Daichi.

Realization struck him in a manner similar to Jaden…only his reaction was much more startled and shocked. He gasped, his eyes widening in shock.

"No, there is!" Daichi exclaimed. "Monsters called out through these summoning conditions…Those cards are separated because they're said to decide a duel's outcome by just having the card!"

Jaden nodded and remarked, "See, the smart one knows!"

Daichi ignored Jaden and continued on, "One of them, Chaos Emperor Dragon, was made a forbidden card…in official Duel Monsters tournaments because of its excess strength and fearful effect. And the other one hasn't become a forbidden card, but it had a strength not unlike Chaos Emperor Dragon's."

Kagurazaka smirked as he held out the card in his hand.

"Right," he said. "_This_ card is the deck's real ace! Come forth, Black Luster Solder-Envoy of the Beginning!"

A white vortex appeared on the field, in which both Kuriboh and Watapon were sucked into. Jaden bit her lip as a tall, black and gold armored figure with a big sword and shield in his hands, appeared on the field.

"Black Luster Solder-Envoy of the Beginning!" exclaimed Jaden.

Black Luster Soldier looked up and stared at Jaden, causing the Osiris Red the back up a bit.

"What a guy to call out…" said Jaden.

Despite being rather shocked and slightly scared, deep down…_waaay_ deep down in Jaden's heart…she was actually excited. She admired this card and its strength…this was her first time she'd actually seen this card in person…

"Wow…" sighed Jaden.

"Just try to take an attack from the strongest warrior in the world of Duel Monsters!" said Kagurazaka.

Jaden blinked and narrowed her eyes. He had to kill it…he had to kill it… Her moment of joy was just killed by Kagurazaka, having snapped Jaden back into reality. Great…

"This is gonna hurt…" muttered Jaden.

Black Luster Soldier readied his sword for attack.

ATK 3000

"Go, Black Luster Soldier!" exclaimed Kagurazaka. "Double-Destruction Slash of Creation!"

Black Luster Soldier rapidly jabbed his sword, sending out a wave of what seemed to be many of his sword's blades at Avian, destroying the Elemental Hero.

"Avian!" exclaimed Jaden.

Jaden:

LP

800

"I'm not done yet!" said Kagurazaka. "This card's true power is coming right up! I activate Black Luster Soldier's special effect! When this card destroys an opposing monster in battle, he's allowed to go on and attack once more!"

Jaden's eyes widened as she stared at Black Luster Soldier. "Shit…"

Shou began to shake rather badly from the intimidation that Black Luster Soldier's power created.

"With 3000 ATK, he really has a continuous attack ability?" Shou managed to say without stuttering.

"Space-Time Breakthrough-Double-Destruction Slash of Creation!" exclaimed Kagurazaka.

Black Luster Soldier let out a battle cry and charged directly at Burstinatrix.

"This is bad!" exclaimed Daichi. "If this attack works, Jaden will lose!"

Kagurazaka's grin widened as he yelled, "Begone!"

Jaden inhaled and said, "The Trap card, Hero Spirits!"

Black Luster Soldier continued his attempted assault on Burstinatrix, the red-clad Elemental Hero shrieking in surprise. Suddenly, a bright light flash and Black Luster Soldier's sword was deflected…by Elemental Hero Avian's spirit!

Kagurazaka stared in shock as he said, "What?"

Jaden exhaled and explained, "When an Elemental Hero is destroyed, for this turn…Hero Spirits makes damage from one opposing monster, zero!"

Jaden looked at Kagurazaka and managed to force herself to smile.

"Tch…I'll finish my turn with that," said Kagurazaka.

Jaden's breath hitched as the certain turn of events began to take its toll on the gender-mistaken girl in the form of stress. She wiped the sweat off her face with the palm of her hand as she stared at Kagurazaka and Black Luster Soldier.

"If it wasn't for the unity among Heroes, I would've been done in that turn!" thought Jaden.

Jaden looked at Black Luster Soldier; a silhouette in the form of Yugi Mutou appeared over it. A sudden flash caught Jaden's attention as she looked down to see what it was. It was coming from her duel disk's Graveyard.

"Kuri kuri!" said a voice.

Winged Kuriboh appeared out of Jaden's duel disk, surprising the gender-mistaken girl slightly. Jaden looked down, slightly ashamed.

"Winged Kuriboh…I'm sorry," said Jaden. "It's just that it's the other guy that's one or two cards ahead of me this time!"

Winged Kuriboh narrowed his eyes and immediately began to slap some sense into Jaden.

"Kuri kuri!" snapped Winged Kuriboh. "Kuri kuri!"

Winged Kuriboh then pointed at Jaden's opponent. Jaden rubbed her cheek as she replied,"No matter what you do, I just can't beat Yugi-sa—"

Jaden gasped as she realized something…

"_That's it, isn't it?"_ thought Jaden. _"The one I'm really fighting isn't Yugi-san!"_

The silhouette of Yugi Mutou overshadowing Kagurazaka disappeared, revealing the Ra Yellow's true form. Jaden scowled and muttered something about some damn hallucinations…

"_I _really_ gotta get some sleep…"_ thought Jaden. (16)

"Kuri!" snapped Winged Kuriboh.

"_Okay, geez!" _thought Jaden.

The fact that Winged Kuriboh was her partner, also meant that he could read Jaden's thoughts, which sucked sometimes…

"_Hold on…if I recall, I got something he doesn't have at all, don't I?" _thought Jaden.

"Kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden's lips began to form into a wide grin.

"_I get it, Winged Kuriboh!" _thought Jaden._ "I'll believe in my deck, and fight 'til the end!"_

Jaden reached for her deck, drawing a card.

"My turn!" she said, looking at the card she drew afterward. "It's this…"

Jaden smiled as she looked at Kagurazaka.

"With this, I've got my hand ready to take you out!" exclaimed Jaden.

Kagurazaka's breath hitched. "What?"

Jaden grinned as she held out the card in her hand.

"The Magic card, Silent Dead!" she said. "This special-summons one Normal Monster from my Graveyard in defense mode! Be reborn, Avian!"

Avian appeared onto the field right beside Burstinatrix in a defensive position.

"Next, I activate the Magic card, Double Magic!" said Jaden. "In exchange for discarding one Magic card from my hand, I'll use one Magic card in my opponent's Graveyard!"

Jaden grinned as she said, "And the card I'm choosing now is the key card that'll take both you and your legendary warrior out. Can anyone guess which on?"

Daichi blinked and looked at Jaden's field, his eyes slightly widen in surprise.

"He has Avian and Burstinatrix on the field…" said Daichi.

"Correct!" Jaden said, her grin wide. "I discard one card, and use Polymerization from your Graveyard! With it, I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix!"

Polymerization appeared on the field and fused together Avian and Burstinatrix to form…

"Come forth, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" said Jaden.

Flame Wingman appeared once more on the field again, only this time…he did it with style. The Elemental Hero was currently standing on top of the highest skyscraper, in a fashion that resembled what most heroes in comics did.

"And because of Skyscraper's effect, his ATK goes up by 1000 points!" said Jaden.

ATK: Previously, 2100

Now…3100!

"Flame Wingman!" exclaimed Jaden. "Skyscraper Shoot!"

Flame Wingman jumped off of the skyscraper and was set ablaze as he charged downwards towards Black Luster Soldier with full speed. He then threw a punch at Black Luster Soldier, destroying the legendary warrior.

Kagurazaka:

LP

1500

Kagurazaka was stunned as he stared at where Black Luster Soldier once was.

"B-Black Luster Soldier, he's…" said Kagurazaka.

"I activate Flame Wingman's special effect!" said Jaden. "The opposing player's hit with damage equal to the ATK of the monster destroyed in battle!"

Flame Wingman turned to Kagurazaka and aimed his right hand at the Ra Yellow. Kagurazaka yelled as he was hit with a fiery blast. Daichi, Shou, and Hayato watched in awe as this marked the end of the duel.

Kagurazaka:

LP

0

Jaden smiled and winked as she did her signature pose.

"Gotcha!" she said. "That was a fun duel!"

"I can't believe I…lost!" lamented Kagurazaka.

Kagurazaka fell despondently onto the ground on his knees. His whole body shook as he watched Dark Magician's card fall onto the ground.

"I couldn't win, even by using this powerful deck?" he said.

Dark Magician Girl's card, then Kuriboh's card also fell onto the ground next to Dark Magician's.

Kagurazaka's irises shrunk as he stared at the fallen cards, realization hitting him rather badly.

"It looks like I…really have no talent!" Kagurazaka said, closing his eyes afterwards.

"No, it's not like that," said another voice.

Kagurazaka looked to the side and gasped when he saw the two most notable Duel Academy students of the Obelisk Blue dorm, Kaiser Ryou Marufuji and Asuka Tenjoin, walk into view.

"The Kaiser!" said Kagurazaka.

"Onii-san!" said Shou.

Jaden looked questioningly at Asuka and Ryou.

"Asuka, why are you here?" she asked the dark-blonde.

Ryou answered for Asuka as he said, "We also wanted to hurry and see the deck before anyone else."

"We went to the display hall, but the case was broken, and the deck had vanished," Asuka continued on for Ryou. "And while we were looking for it, we ended up finding you all."

Ryou nodded and added to what Asuka had said; a faint smile on his lips. "We thought of stopping you, but stopping you would've been somewhat regretful, after all."

Daichi smiled and said, "That's true."

Jaden blinked and smiled nervously as she replied to what she just heard in a somewhat irritated tone. "Hey, c'mon, you should've shown up when I was fighting for my life there!"

"About that…it seems it wasn't just us who were watching," said Ryou.

Ryou and Asuka turned around to look back. Jaden blinked, her expression now one of pure cluelessness. What exactly did they mean by that? That was answered when Jaden turned back and looked up at the cliffside above her. Right above her on the cliffside, was a huge crowd consisting of just about everyone from each of the three dorms.

"It's true!" exclaimed Hayato.

Two of the Ra Yellows rubbed the back of their heads awkwardly while the rest of the Ra Yellows and a group of Osiris Red applauded.

"No, it was an amazing duel!" commented the first Ra Yellow (of the two).

"You showed us some good stuff!" said the second Ra Yellow. "We learned a lot!"

Kagurazaka looked at the crowd, his expression softened. He blinked when he saw Jaden's outstretched hand right in front of him. The Osiris Red was trying to help him up! Kagurazaka turned and refused, but after a bit of Jaden's persistency…he gave in to his help. He grasped onto the Osiris Red's hand…which he found out was very small, compared to his own…it was almost dainty in a way.

"Uh…can you let go of my hand now?" asked Jaden.

Kagurazaka's face turned red as he realized that he had been holding onto Jaden's hand for about almost two minutes. He immediately let go of Jaden's hand and looked away, his face still red from embarrassment.

"To be honest, taking someone else's deck as your own is an unforgivable offense," Ryou said, closing his eyes afterwards. "However, it's a fact that everyone wanted to see _the_ Yugi Mutou's deck in action, showing off its power. I'm sure we can all let this slide."

Asuka nodded in agreement

"I can't believe he was able to master that much of Yugi Mutou's, the King of Duelists', deck!" one of the Ra Yellows exclaimed, his fist tightened up.

"That was amazing, Kagurazaka!" another Ra Yellow exclaimed.

Kagurazaka frowned and looked down.

"But I still lost…" he said. "Why?"

"_Baka_!" snapped Jaden.

Kagurazaka blinked and yelped when suddenly felt a rather hard knock on his head. He looked down to see that Jaden had just bopped him upside the head. For a rather slim guy with small hands, Jaden could really pack a punch…

"Quit beating yourself up!" said Jaden. "And as for your question…that's easy! It's something that I have and you don't!"

Kagurazaka looked questioningly at the Osiris Red. "Something I don't have?"

A slight blush tinged Jaden's cheeks as she rubbed her nose with her index finger, while saying, "That's the feeling of believing in your deck."

Kagurazaka blinked owlishly as he repeated, "Believing in my deck?"

Jaden nodded as she held up her index finger.

"See, that deck is really strong, but the idea to make that deck wasn't yours, after all," Jaden stated. "That's why you didn't win the duel."

Jaden blinked and placed her hand on her chin.

"Hmm…uh, how…can I put it…" Jaden said, looking up in thought.

"Because you put in the time and effort, you're able to believe in your deck from the bottom of your heart," said Ryou. "And, that feeling gives duelists the spirit that decides their battles at the last minute. If it were the real Yugi Mutou in that duel just now, there's a chance Jaden would've lost from that pressure."

Jaden nodded and smiled as she added, "And like I thought, bringing out that deck's real power is something no one but Yugi-san can do."

Jaden held out her hand to Kagurazaka as she said, "As promised, you'll be giving back the deck, right?"

Kagurazaka nodded as he took the deck out of his duel disk.

"Of course I will," he said.

Jaden smiled. "Good…so…if you're up for testing out any dueling tactics or breaking in a new deck, just to let you know…I'm always in for being your tester, 'kay?"

Kagurazaka blinked and nodded, smiling afterwards as he handed Jaden, Yugi-san's deck.

* * *

The next day in the exhibition hall,

After a surprisingly early wake-up call from Jaden, who both her roommates would've expected her to wake up late since they got back to their dorm late at night, the Osiris Red trio was currently at Yugi's deck display. The walls were decorated with posters of the shorter-than-average, legendary duelist.

Jaden stared at the deck, which was incased in a new unbroken, glass case. In her hands, was a rolled up scroll, which she had gotten as a gift from Tome. Standing next to her, was Hayato, the two of them both watching the many students of Duel Academy look at the Duel King's deck in awe.

The gender-mistaken girl smiled and crossed her arms, her eyes closed.

"What a relief, what a relief!" she said. "The deck's back in one piece!"

Hayato nodded in agreement.

"Mm-hm," he said. "Yugi Mutou's deck is something that belongs to all duelists."

Jaden nodded, not noticing the perplexed look that came from her roommate. Hayato eyed the scroll in Jaden's hand.

"By the way, what are you holding, Jaden?" asked Hayato.

Jaden smiled widely as she pointed at the scroll.

"Oh?" said Jaden. "You mean this?"

Jaden smiled as she unrolled the scroll, revealing it to be a poster of the Duel King, Yugi Mutou.

"Hehe, this is it!" she said ecstatically.

Hayato let out an exclamation in response to seeing the poster. Jaden rolled it back up and looked at her roommate.

"Nice, isn't it?" she asked. "Let's hang it in our room!"

"Geez…you can't go grabbing things…" said Hayato.

Jaden frowned and looked at Hayato.

"Don't talk about me like that, Koala-man!" said Jaden. "I got it from Tome-san, you know."

Hayato eyed his female roommate suspiciously. "Uh-huh…I've got a bad feeling…"

Jaden laughed, not noticing a familiar blue-haired boy running towards her until…

"Aniki, we've got trouble!" exclaimed Shou.

Jaden blinked and turned to see Shou right next to her, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"What's up?" she asked.

"There's an imposter posing as you, Aniki!" exclaimed Shou.

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she yelled, "What?"

* * *

Sometime later,

The Osiris Red trio ran onto a pathway in the near entrance of the forest. After a few moments, they came to a stop when they had spotted a rather familiar figure in the guise of a certain gender-mistaken Osiris Red.

"I've been waiting for you, Jaden," said the imposter.

The imposter turned to face Jaden, revealing him to be…Kagurazaka. Jaden's eye twitched at seeing the Ra Yellow attempt at trying to look like her. He's got everything down…except for the hair and the fact that he's a guy…but still…

"Kagurazaka…what are you up to?" Jaden managed to ask, despite being oddly disturbed with Kagurazaka's garb.

"I figured it out!" Kagurazaka said, smiling at Jaden. "Why couldn't I believe in my deck? That's basically…"

Kagurazaka tightened his fists and looked at Jaden.

"…because I hadn't perfected my imitations!" he finished.

Jaden, Hayato, and Shou face-faulted at Kagurazaka's outburst…this was rather awkward. Jaden face-palmed afterwards in annoyance as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face, her eye still twitching.

"You haven't figured anything out!" said Jaden. "Man, this guy…"

Kagurazaka quickly searched his pockets before pulling out a deck.

"I even made a deck that resembles yours!" he said. "With this, I've made my body and heart just like yours!"

"What the hell?" snapped Jaden.

Kagurazaka ignored Jaden's outburst as he pointed at her.

"Now, I'm challenging you to play me one more time!" he exclaimed.

Afterwards, he did something that infuriated Jaden…he posed just like her, only…it was a fail. The facial expression was wrong, the hand gesture…even the quote, which was, "Gotcho!" was wrong…

A blush tinged Jaden's cheeks as the guy embarrassing not only himself, but her, as well. And besides…she didn't like the fact that he was doing it all _wrong_!  
"Aah!" yelled Jaden. "Geez, the pose and everything is way off!"

Kagurazaka looked perplexed at Jaden as he tried to adjust his wig.

"Huh?" he asked. "Where?"

Jaden popped up right besides Kagurazaka and used her hands to fix his right hand's gesture into the correct position.

"Keep your right hand here!" she said before bending down to fix Kagurazaka's left foot. "Keep your left foot here!"

Jaden appeared right by Kagurazaka's side, about ready to show him the correct way to initiate her trademark pose (copyright of Jaden Yuki since the third grade).

"And it's not 'Gotcho'!" she snapped, holding out her right hand in the correct gesture. "Gotcha!"

"Asuka-chan!" exclaimed Kagurazaka.

Shou and Hayato sighed in aggravation as they sweat dropped.

"This is…" said Hayato.

"I don't say that when I win!" snapped Jaden. "I don't! I don't even call Asuka, 'chan'!"

"Weren't they going to duel…?" asked Shou.

Jaden growled and crossed her arms as she shouted, "You may get everything right, but there's one-two things you will never be able to do!"

Kagurazaka looked questioningly at Jaden and asked, "What is it? What do you mean I can't?"

Jaden opened one eye to look at Kagurazaka. She took out her deck and started to search through it before pulling out one card. She showed it to the Ra Yellow.

"Elemental Hero Terra Firma is the only one in existence," said Jaden. "A gift from my friend a long time ago… who just recently woken up from a coma just a few weeks ago."

Kagurazaka stared at the card in awe, scowling when Jaden pulled it back and placed it back into her deck.

"So…what's the other thing?" asked Kagurazaka.

Jaden placed her hands on her hips and stared sternly at Kagurazaka.

"Tch…you'll never get my body right," said Jaden.

Kagurazaka scowled and retorted, "Oh, yeah? Tell me what I'm missing! I got the uniform…the hair…"

Jaden shook her head and turned around.

"You idiot…you haven't figured it out yet?" asked Jaden. "I'm not even a guy at all!"

Kagurazaka stopped and looked at Jaden questioningly.

"Not…a…guy?" he said.

Jaden closed her eyes and nodded. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands patting her chest a few times, moving down a little each time until it made a small sound that said…

_Squish!_

"Gyaah!" Jaden shrieked, elbowing whoever it was behind her in reaction as she used her free arm to cover her chest.

Kagurazaka was sent back a few inches as he stared at Jaden, red faced. He just…touched a girl's chest?

"WHAT THE?" exclaimed Kagurazaka. "You're a girl?"

Jaden looked at Kagurazaka, red-faced as well.

"No crap!" snapped Jaden. "Didn't the breasts give it away?"

"Yes, but…they were small…" Kagurazaka muttered as he twiddled his fingers around.

Jaden blinked a few times before letting out a puff of breath. At least he acknowledged the fact that she had a chest. But what she didn't notice, was that her koala-resembling roommate (who looked rather mad), was walking right up to Kagurazaka.

"Oi!" yelled Hayato. "You think I'm just gonna let you slide after seeing what you did?"

Kagurazaka backed away from Hayato, looking nervously at the big boy.

"I'm sorry!" Kagurazaka exclaimed nervously. "I didn't mean it!"

As Hayato was about ready to gang up on the poor Ra Yellow, Shou walked up to his Aniki and looked curiously at her.

"Aniki…I heard a small sound," said Shou.

Jaden looked curiously at Shou before looking down at her chest. Shou then did something without thinking…he placed his hand on his Aniki's chest. But the second he placed his hand on Jaden's chest, he backed away in recoil, his face red from blushing furiously.

"ANIKI!" exclaimed Shou. "Are you even…"

This caught Hayato's attention as he turned away from the scared Ra Yellow to his female roommate. Shou's reaction was rather…embarrassed…more than usual. Hayato blinked when he seemed to recall he heard a small sound when he saw Kagurazaka pat his roommate's chest…one that was aside from patting. His eyes widened as he realized what it might've been.

Hayato walked up to Jaden and looked at her sternly.

"Jaden, are you wearing a—?" he asked.

Jaden's cheeks were tinged slightly with a blush as she looked down, twiddling her fingers.

"I was in a hurry…you guys rushed me and…I couldn't find one that fast…" said Jaden. "And it's not like it matters anyways, seeing as you usually say I don't—"

"I don't give a damn what I said!" Hayato snapped as he grabbed onto Jaden's wrist and began to drag her towards the Osiris Red dorms. "Go back to the dorms and put on a bra!"

Kagurazaka and Shou watched as Hayato dragged his red-faced female roommate all the way back to the Osiris Red dorms. Both boys looked at each other, their faces both red with what they had to go through.

Today was definitely going to be an awkward day…that's about what they assumed it would pretty much turn out to be. But then again, who know? It might change…though, now Jaden will never probably live this one down with Hayato. And neither will he, himself…

* * *

A/N End of chapter…yeah…hey guys! It's like 3 AM, BTW, MERRY CHRISTMAS! And yesterday marked my second year of me being on fanfiction…yeah! I made a promise to myself a few days ago and to my friends that I would update this chapter yesterday…well, I tried! But by the time I was JUST about done…it was midnight. Yeah, I got sidetracked because I was watching _Up _with my family and all…

If anyone was OOC...it was for humor and maybe the fact that I was typing this while I was sota half-asleep...yeah, about a quarter or this story was written past 10 PM. anyways...

Yeah, I went through a lot in the past four months, as you might want to know for the reason of this late update. My PSP was stolen in October (my mom STILL doesn't know…), I got SO much homework, and I had finals last week! That's a lot of studying I had to do beforehand…

Anyways, let me tell you this straight out, as you already figured this out, but…I'M NOT DEAD! DX KD is very much alive (and sleepy right now since it is 3 AM…). If you've read my new Pokémon Story, _Our Last Pact: A Journey of Commemoration_, you'll see the other part of the reason for this late update. If you haven't…go now and see, BTW…tell me what you think if you bother reading the two chapters. It's not much, but hey! That's what happens when you get into Generation V…

That last part…credit goes to my friend, **Hestic** for suggesting the chest pat. As for Jaden not wearing a bra…this is what happens when I awake past 1 AM…

Anyways, onto the notes! There are a lot of them this time…

(1) By Marik, I meant Yami Marik and BTW…just to let you know, I refer to the real Marik as Malik and Yami Marik as Marik…just to keep the difference simple and…yeah…I is lazy! DX

(2) That was rather rude…almost as rude as throwing a harpoon at someone! XD Yeah, pretty much what I just wanted you guys to know, loved that LittleKuriboh joke…oh, and there's something you might want to know…Little Kuriboh has been suspended from YouTube again! DX I KNOW! Horrible! Next note…T_T

(3) Geez, I have to specify which Ra Yellow since we have the imitator, Kagurazaka, and the smart one, Daichi.

(4) KD had a Captain Obvious moment.

(5) Misawa talks so much sometimes, but for once…typing this whole thing was worth it! One, it made so much sense, and two…it really does explain a lot. Give it up for Super Daichi and his intellectual explanations! :D

(6) Yes, the ACTUAL "if this was late" reference…Pokémon.

(7) It's called blasphemy! This is Yugi-san's deck Jaden is up against…oh, I just noticed something…Red is like the Yugi of Pokémon (Adventures/games). Or would it be the other way around? Which came first, then…?

(8) Jaden (Judai) strikes me as someone who is actually rather smart, just…carefree, somewhat. I mean, the guy sleeps through tests…so maybe this might be the reason why he got sent to Osiris Red. In my story, that is the exact reason as she could've actually gotten a good score had she not been up late at night trying to beat the eight Gym Leader of Kanto, Green (that's Blue's Japanese and official name! DX). That…and yhe fact that she was also building her deck.

(9) In this AU, players have the ability to bring up LP scores whenever they want to (LP score is still brought up after damage calculation and such), like Kagurazaka did to annoy Jaden. That pretty much explains why Jaden just damned Kagurazaka…yeah…

(10) Yes, I've noticed…it's a combo that happens to actually be somewhat coincidental. Someone up there must really love Jaden…XD

(11) Yes, I'm referring to Mori-senpai…god, I really want to see if I can tackle this guy to the ground with a flying glomp…and yes, that long description on how hot Mori is…it's a quote from _A Very Potter Musical_, the most HILARIOUS thing I've ever seen on YouTube since LittleKuriboh's videos.

(12) That pink heart…that heart…and me playing Pokémon and watching Best Wishes (Season 14 of Pokémon)…yeah! Couldn't resist that reference… *gets hsot*

(13) If I ever use this work…it means emphasis on idiot, stupid…you know what it means. It's either this reason, or I'm makings someone enunciate it slowly.

(14) Whitney is the Goldenrod Gym Leader and she had a Pokémon that knows attract. According to what I've seen in walkthroughs, Whitney makes her Miltank use Attract on a male Pokémon. Reason as to why I barely notice this (aside from the TM I obtained from her) is because my Soul Silver team is made up a pure girls (save for an Umbreon)…for this exact reason. That, and the fact that my encounter rate of male Pokémon is seemingly low since my Togepi was born a girl (weird since I usually get male Pokémon from eggs), my Dratini was a girl (which is why I kept the name Ryou), and my Starter Pokémon…the rare occurrence where I get a female. Yup…my Eevee (now an Umbreon) was probably the only male I had on me when I bullshitted my way through the Pokémon League. You can see why I take long, now, can you?

(15) Pokémon reference I noticed after I saw my Riolu use Force Palm on a Sneasel (Candice's). *gets shot*

(16) An allusion to what Ryou told himself last chapter. XD

And now that that's over…I'll give out the honors later today about the reviews since I'm sleepy, slightly in deep shit if my mom finds out I'm still awake (it's past 3:30 right now as I'm typing this), and yeah!

Anyways, NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is a godsend…especially since I probably made a whole lotta mistakes near the end of the chapter because I was beginning to get tired…and reviews…not pushing it~!

Anyways, yeah…KD IS BACK!


	19. Turn 19

A/N: A bit of a heads up, guys…**READ MY A/N's** before you review stuff involving things like pairings, references, and of course, knowledge to my gender, which by now, most of you guys should know this, I am a girl with an addiction to video games, band (at least the class I am in), and manga/anime series, like Yu-Gi-Oh. If any of you ask about something I explained in an A/N, be aware that I will not hesitate to snap…thank you and let me tell you one thing…

I am proud to say that I now have 100 reviews, I have 15,000 hits on this story which I can _finally_ say this…**IT'S OVER 9000**!

OC: What? 9000? Impossible!

I thought so too since this is the first story I have ever wrote that has over 9000 hits, over 61 reviews, and at least 40 favorites and story alerts…I feel so proud! T^T Thanks a lot, guys! You have been a real help! And also, honors for reviewer #100, who actually gave me 5 reviews when I had 95 just to help me reach 100…is **CrashAndBurn35**! Thanks a lot!

Now for the honors I have yet to put in the previous page…review #90 is , and reviewer #80 is **ThePathUntaken**, and for reviewer #70…**heartlessneko**! Thanks a lot, once again! Now continue on and enjoy the story…which I better not get any flames on! Constructive criticism is always welcomed and I know I'm doing this ahead of time, but the A/N at the end of the chapter took up a whole page and I…yeah. Anyways, continue on!

* * *

Chapter Nineteen

Enter: Valentine's Day

Just a week after the incident involving the Duel King's deck…school resumed to its usual routine. Today was Friday and Jaden was trying to make the best of it after getting out of class. She had so much to do today involving…Red, the Ultimate Trainer.

"I'm gonna get that bastard…" Jaden muttered as she tightened her fist. "I will not forgive him…"

About a few days ago, Jaden made another attempt to defeat Red the Ultimate Trainer. And much to her stunning surprise, she actually won that battle. It would've been good for her to know that all her work going into that battle paid off…however! Just as her game was saving, the unfortunate happened. Her battery died…and when she tried to resume play, her data was corrupted, meaning one thing…she had to erase her data and start a new game. Fortunately for her, most of her prized Pokémon were on her other game, but still…

"Of all the luck!" Jaden said, grasping the doorknob to her room. "Why me?"

Jaden turned the knob and entered her room…only to find out that she wasn't alone. Inside, waiting for her, were Junko and Momoe…both girls wearing devious grins. Jaden blinked a few times and turned to her calendar. She cursed mentally as today was February 12…two days before Valentine's Day. Good Ra…no…no…today was the day Junko and Momoe had told her that they were going to pick her up.

"I'm not wearing the dress!" Jaden wailed as she made an attempt to run out of the room. Too bad Asuka was in her way, Jaden could've actually succeeded in escaping and hiding out at either Daichi or Ryou's room for the next three days until Valentine's Day was over. _Could_ have…but she didn't, so now…crap.

"Where do you think you're going, Judai-kun?" asked Asuka. "Don't think I'm going to let you go…I have to go through the same thing."

Jaden's eyes turned huge and glistened with tears. Dammit, both she and Asuka were screwed…and Junko and Momoe had blackmail! Or at least she thought they had blackmail…Jaden wasn't taking chances.

"Why must you always torture me?" wailed Jaden.

Junko walked up to Jaden and grinned as she pinched the Osiris Red's cheek.

"Because you're cute and hiding that cute face would be a sin," said Junko. "Now, let's go to Tome-san. I heard she just got in the molds we ordered…Momoe?"

Momoe nodded and latched onto Jaden's arm as Junko and Asuka walked out of the Osiris Red's room. Momoe followed after, dragging Jaden along with her, closing the door behind her.

Sometime later,

The girls arrived to Tome's store, which was surprisingly empty…for the moment as in most likely, an hour; it will be crowded with girls. Tome was currently carrying boxes into the staff room with help from Seiko. She stopped when she spotted the familiar sight of blue and red colored uniforms.

"So you're here for the molds, right?" asked Tome.

Junko and Momoe nodded, earning a smile from Tome. Tome set the box down onto the counter and called Seiko out. Seiko peered out of the staffroom and noticed the girls. She nodded and understood what to get as she disappeared hack into the staffroom.

A few moments later, Seiko popped out with a box in her arms.

"We just got them this morning," said Seiko. "Just in time…"

Seiko placed the box on top of the store counter and reached into her pocket to pull out her utility knife. Afterwards, she used her utility knife to open the box.

"So, who ordered the set of Package A molds for who?" Seiko asked as she pulled out a plastic bag from the box.

Jaden looked curiously at the bag as inside, she could see the molds. The molds were in shape of rather familiar Duel Monsters…ones Jaden had seen before…that got her thinking…hold it!

"Wait!" said Jaden. "Why are there molds in the shape of the Duel Monsters my friends have?"

Momoe took the bag from Seiko and turned to Jaden, smiling.

"Don't you know?" asked Momoe.

Jaden shook her head, which in turn made Momoe frown.

"That's right…you don't," said Momoe.

Tome giggled and leaned on the counter, her gaze focused on Jaden.

"I'll explain it to her," said Tome. "But Seiko-chan knows how to do it better than me since—"

Seiko blushed and waved her hands around.

"Tome-san, don't tell them!" she wailed. "I'll explain it to her! I'll explain!"

Tome grinned at Seiko, who was currently trying to calm herself down. After letting out a sigh in relief, Seiko looked at Jaden.

"On Valentine's Day, here on Duel Academy, there's been a small custom in which a girl who gives chocolate to a boy she likes or is friends with…" Seiko began, "…usually gives him at least one chocolate in the shape of his most notable Duel Monsters. The more notable the monster is to the boy, the more meaning the chocolate has as either honmei-choko or tomo-choko." (1)

Momoe nodded and handed Jaden the bag of molds.

"Which is why we carefully chose out your friends' notable monsters out of the descriptions you gave us on your duels with them," Momoe told Jaden.

Jaden blinked and looked at the bag of molds in her hand. She was able to spot out a few familiar monsters such as Water Dragon and Cyber-End Dragon. Jaden blinked and sighed…

"There is no way I'm getting out of this, is there?" asked Jaden.

Junko and Momoe nodded, a smirk crossing their lips. Asuka shook her head and held out her hand to receive her mold bag from Seiko.

"Just…just learn to deal with it," said Asuka. "It's not actually that bad—on second thought…"

Asuka turned and walked over to Jaden. She placed her hand on the Osiris Red's shoulder and looked down at her.

"Good luck tomorrow," said Asuka. "You're gonna need it and then on Sunday…may Osiris help you."

Jaden blinked and frowned. She did not like the sound of it whatsoever…

"Can I go back to my dorm, now?" asked Jaden.

Asuka answered for Junko and Momoe, "You can, seeing as we have no more need for you…right?"

Asuka looked sternly at her roommates, who reacted by nodding their heads. The dark-blonde looked at them suspiciously before saying, "Good."

Jaden took no time to hesitate as she ran out of Tome's store. Just then, Seiko gasped.

"Oh, forgot to tell her about the card gift!" said Seiko.

Junko held her hand up and said, "No need…I'm sure she'll figure it out."

Seiko bit her lip and nodded as she handed Momoe her bag of molds. Momoe smiled and thanked Seiko as she looked at her bag.

"I wonder if Jaden knows how to make chocolate…" Momoe said aloud.

Junko grinned as she grabbed her respective bag of molds from the box.

"Don't worry about that!" Junko reassured. "I left the components in her rooms and the instructions, don't you remember? You wrote the directions on how to make chocolate, right?"

Momoe nodded and froze when she realized something…the raven-haired girl slowly moved her hand into her pocket. Her breath hitched when she felt the familiar feel of paper and wailed when she pulled out a piece of paper…that happened to have the written instructions on how to make chocolate.

"Junko-san!" wailed Momoe. "We didn't leave the paper…I still have it!"

Junko's grinning ceased as she turned to Momoe.

"Please tell me you're—" Junko trailed off when she saw the paper in Momoe's hand. "Oh, crap…"

Momoe looked around, her eyes beginning to look watery.

"Asuka-san, what do we do?" exclaimed Momoe.

No answer…

Junko and Momoe looked around for Asuka and realized something…she wasn't in the store anymore.

"Oh, come on!" whined Momoe.

Junko sighed and said, "Let's just…let's just go back to the dorm. It's too late, now…making chocolate takes a while to finish…we probably won't be done until tomorrow night. If we want to finish them by Sunday, we better get going."

Momoe looked perplexed at Junko. "But what about Jaden-kun?"

Junko shrugged and replied, "Let's see what she'll try to do…if she doesn't have any chocolates on Sunday, we'll just give her some of ours. Besides, she'd probably locked herself in her room to play her game."

Momoe blinked and nodded.

"That's a good idea and you're right," said Momoe. "Wow, Junko-san! You're so smart sometimes!"

Junko narrowed her eyes and diverted her gaze on Momoe.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Junko.

Momoe closed her eyes and held up her finger as she added, "Because you're usually cunning!"

Junko arched her brow at Momoe.

"Isn't that the same thing?" the rufous-haired girl asked.

Momoe shook her head and replied, "Not in my terms~! Now let's go make start making chocolate!"

And with that, Momoe and Junko left the store.

* * *

Meanwhile,

Inside a certain room within the Obelisk Blue dorms, Ryou sighed in slight irritation. His Obelisk Blue acquaintances had just barged into his room a while ago to discuss something that he thought was rather…irrelevant.

"So how much chocolate do you think you're getting this year, Kaiser?" asked Taniguchi.

"Does it really matter?" Ryou asked, wanting nothing more than for the next three-er, two and a half days to pass by quickly…

Ryou reached into his pocket and took out his PDA. He might as well call Shou to think of the new plan for this year, seeing as he now had his little brother to help him out on Valentine's Day…just like back then in Middle and midway through Elementary school. Good times…

Suddenly, a hand slapped onto his shoulder, surprising him slightly. Ryou turned to see that it was Reizo, who looked rather miffed.

"Yes…it does matter!" exclaimed Reizo.

Ryou just stared at the dark brown-haired Obelisk Blue, his expression pretty much stoic. Seeing no reaction from Ryou got Reizo to back away from intimidation. An awkward silence ensued and the tension began to build up. Wanting to ease the tension and break the silence, Reizo spoke.

"Hey, Taniguchi!" he said. "Do you think Judai will give out chocolate?"

Taniguchi blinked and nodded as he held up his finger.

"She has to!" said Taniguchi. "If she wants her boyfriend, Daichi Misawa, to know that she does like him…she'll have to give out chocolate!"

Ryou crossed his arms and looked blankly at his acquaintances. They were still at it at being lovesick over Jaden's female persona, Judai. The poor kid…he actually felt sorry for what Jaden had to feel every time Junko and Momoe dressed her up, seeing as Reizo and Taniguchi usually found a way to bump into her.

"Man, that Daichi Misawa…" Reizo said, enraged to a small extend. "That lucky punk…how did he end up with a girl like Judai? She's better off with you, Kaiser."

Ryou arched his brow at Reizo. Like hell…Jaden was his friend…and not to mention, she was also his otouto's surrogate big brother, or 'Aniki', gender not being really much of a matter in names. Plus, he had no feelings whatsoever of Jaden aside from being just a rather good duelist he can acknowledge and respect.

"Not interested," Ryou said plain out straight.

Ryou blinked as Taniguchi suddenly appeared by his side.

"Kaiser…Kaiser…" Taniguchi said, shaking his head.

Reizo popped up by Ryou on the other side, placing his arm around Ryou's shoulder.

"Judai is right for the picking," Reizo said. "All she needs is to realize she's doing the wrong this staying with Daichi Misawa. She was placed in Obelisk Blue in a reason."

"She was placed in Obelisk Blue because all female students are sent there, regardless of skill and intellect," remarked Ryou.

Reizo diverted his eyes on Ryou, obviously not amused with that response.

"That's beside the point," said Reizo. "The real point is that she's better suited with someone from Obelisk Blue…like you!"

"Yeah, Daichi Misawa is nothing compared with you!" added Taniguchi.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Ra Yellow,

Daichi had just gotten out of the bathhouse and was currently drying his hair with a towel when he suddenly sneezed. He had been sneezing for quite a while in the bathhouse and now this… Someone must really enjoy talking about him a lot…or he might have a cold.

"Better go get the thermometer…" muttered Daichi. (2)

* * *

Back in Obelisk Blue,

"Why do you even bother going after Judai-kun?" asked Ryou. "I've heard she turned you down…rather painfully."

Reizo laughed it off as he waved his hand.

"She's just shy!" said Reizo.

"Or maybe she hates you!" said Taniguchi. "Maybe she knows she's better off with me!"

Reizo scowled and glared at his friend, Taniguchi. Taniguchi glared back at him as a current of electricity crackled in between their eyes. Ryou just stared at them for a few seconds before going back to what he was previously doing…calling Shou on his PDA.

"She kicked you down!" snapped Taniguchi.

Reizo scowled and retorted, "She told me her name!"

"She kicked you down low where the sun doesn't shine!" Taniguchi growled.

Ooh, that's gotta hurt…is what Ryou thought…or thought somewhat similarly. He didn't really care, all he wanted to do was speak with his brother, not be involved in the argument.

"_And_ she bumped into me!" Taniguchi added.

Something snapped within Ryou at having to hear Reizo and Taniguchi argue over Jaden like a piece of meat or a trophy to be won. She was a person…not property…and they were _waaay_ too damn loud!

"First come, first serve, Taniguchi!" snapped Reizo. "She told me her name and she bumped into me twice!"

"Okay, that's it…" said Ryou.

A few moments later,

Ryou and Taniguchi found themselves in the hallway in front of Ryou's room, the door slamming closed in front of them.

**DOT DOT DOT…**

Both Obelisk Blues looked at each other and nodded.

"He's jealous," they both said.

THUD!

Reizo and Taniguchi flinched at the loud sound, which seemed to be made from a fist coming in contact with the wall or something. Ryou heard them…

"I think we should run," Taniguchi suggested, blinking when he noticed that he was alone in the hallway.

Taniguchi looked around and spotted Reizo making a left turn after running straight for the first few moments.

"Waaay ahead of you!" Reizo yelled down the hallway.

Taniguchi stuttered for a full minute before running after Reizo.

* * *

Meanwhile…in the TOOLSHED!

A/N Watermelon please in a review! The Narrator will be pleased…yup!

Jaden sighed as she lied sideways on her bed, slightly perplexed as what she was supposed to do with these…these things Junko and Momoe left in her room. She stared at them, wondering how she is supposed to make chocolate with this when they didn't even give her a damn recipe or some directions!

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden diverted her eyes on her winged furball of a friend as he loomed over her. He looked questioningly at Jaden.

"Kuri?" he said.

Jaden grabbed her pillow and covered her face with it.

"Leave me alone…" said Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh puffed up and jumped on Jaden, making sure as to put all his weight onto his paws. Even so, he was still rather light, but it still got a reaction from Jaden, seeing as a few of his claws dug into Jaden's side.

"Aagh!" yelped Jaden.

Jaden immediately sat up and glared at Winged Kuriboh. She rubbed her side, making a mental note to have Winged Kuriboh trim his claws…

"Kuri?" asked Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden blinked and sighed as she replied, "Momoe and Junko want me to give out chocolates tomorrow and they left me this stuff to make it…but they didn't give me any instructions!"

"Kuri?" Winged Kuriboh suggested.

Jaden crossed her arms and turned away.

"No way!" snapped Jaden. "I'm not doing any experimenting in the kitchen! Daitokuji-sensei will kill me, regardless of what my father said he'll do if I get hurt!"

"Kuri kuri?" Winged Kuriboh said, suggesting another idea.

"Midori?" questioned Jaden.

…

"That may work…" said Jaden.

A few moments later, Jaden was now looking through her contacts list on her PDA. After finding Midori's, she selected it and began to wait for her to pick up the phone…

"Why do you have to take so long?" muttered Jaden. "Pick up!"

"_I'm right here, you know?"_ the person on the other end said.

Jaden blinked and apologized sheepishly to Midori. After a bit, Midori asked, _"So, what is the reason you called me today? Is it about the dress?"_

"Not exactly, but that does remind me…the dress's skirt is kinda long…" said Jaden.

"_You're supposed to wear it with heels,"_ replied Midori.

"I'm not wearing those shoes!" snapped Jaden. "I can't even stand in them!"

"_Then learn!"_ said Midori.

"Subject change!" exclaimed Jaden. "The reason I called you was…how do you make chocolate?"

…

"_Are you serious?"_ asked Midori. _"That's what you called me for? Who's the lucky guy?"_

"No one…just my friends," said Jaden. "Junko and Momoe are making me do it…"

"_Well, then you better get started!"_ said Midori. _"Making chocolate takes a while to do! Are you in the kitchen?"_

"No…I'm in my room with these things Junko and Momoe left for me to make the chocolate," said Jaden.

"_Get to the kitchen and take those things with you!"_ said Midori. _"I'll hang up for now, call me when you get there! Bye!"_

…

Jaden looked at her PDA and switched it off before turning over to the items Junko and Momoe left her.

Sometime later,

Jaden found herself in the Osiris Red dorm's kitchen, wearing her casual clothes consisting of a black, long-sleeved shirt (with the sleeves currently rolled up) and red shorts. She wore a pink, frilly apron with white lace and in her hair, was a white bandana and a simple black clip. Her hair was held back by the bandana and the clip and the apron was for staying clean for what Jaden would have to do.

Midori had already given her the instructions on what to do, but Jaden was still uncertain as she looked at the bag full of cocoa beans that Junko and Momoe left for her. She was supposed to roast them…but how would she?

"Hello, Jaden-kun, may I ask what are you doing here-nya?" asked a very familiar voice.

Jaden froze and slowly turned around to face Daitokuji with Pharaoh in his arms. Pharaoh meowed as Daitokuji continued to pet him lightly on the head. Jaden blinked a few times before she had an epiphany. Daitokuji could help her out!

"Daitokuji-sensei…how familiar are you with making chocolate?" asked Jaden. "Can you make it?"

Daitokuji stared at Jaden, his expression calm and more perplexed as to what made the Osiris Red gender-mistaken girl ask him this. When he saw the equipment on the kitchen counter, he got the gist of what made Jaden ask that question.

"I might-nya," he answered.

Jaden smiled and hugged Daitokuji, feeling slightly relieved.

"Thank Ra!" exclaimed Jaden. "I need your help!"

Jaden began to push Daitokuji towards the counter.

"Valentine's Day?" said Daitokuji.

"Yes," Jaden quickly replied, grabbing a lone apron off the rack by sink.

"Junko and Momoe-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Jaden nodded as she took out a red bandana from a random drawer.

"Yes," Jaden said again.

Daitokuji sighed and set Pharaoh down onto the floor. He took the bandana and apron from Jaden and looked at her for a few seconds.

"Where did you get the apron-nya?" he asked as he placed on the apron.

"Found it while I was looking through my clothes," Jaden replied. "It's my mom's."

Daitokuji looked at Jaden, smiling afterwards as he patted her on the head.

"You look nice-nya," said Daitokuji. "Now do you have the directions?"

Daitokuji held out his hand, to which Jaden immediately reacted by thrusting the paper into his hand. The professor looked at the paper and then at Jaden.

"Your Obelisk Blue friends sure enjoy making chocolate the hard way," Daitokuji remarked.

Jaden blinked a few times and sighed before hitting her head a few times against the wall.

"Why me?" she asked herself. "Why me?"

Daitokuji placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder to reassure her.

"Be glad these cocoa beans are pre-roasted…actually, these are nibs-nya," Daitokuji said after taking a closer look at the bag of cocoa nibs.

Jaden stayed still and just asked, "What good does that do us?"

"Well, your—our job just got easier," replied Daitokuji.

Jaden turned to Daitokuji.

"How easy?" she asked.

A few moments later,

Jaden grumbled as she made her way towards the Ra Yellow dorm, still very much wearing the same outfit she changed into to make chocolate. She ignored the stares given at her as she didn't give a damn. All she wanted to do was get this whole thing over with and continue onto her school life of dueling…and maybe get to starting her new game since she _had_ to if she wanted to get to Red, the Ultimate Trainer.

"Damn, data corruption…" Jaden said as she entered the Ra Yellow dorm. "Now, to find Daichi—oof!"

Speak of the devil…Jaden just bumped into Daichi…

"Wow, today might just be my day…" Jaden muttered as she rubbed her head.

Daichi looked down, his face slightly flushed as he stared at Jaden questioningly.

"Ichiban-kun, what are you doing here?" he asked. _"And what's with the outfit?"_

"I need you to help me with something," said Jaden. "Come with me to Tome-san's store…I gotta pick something up."

Daichi blinked and just nodded as it was best if he didn't ask. Though, he really shouldn't have said yes to Jaden…he was going to head to Ayukawa since he felt a bit…dazed. But now…he didn't have a choice anymore, though one question did pop into mind.

"Why me?" asked Daichi.

"Because you're the first one I thought of going to—you don't look too well," said Jaden.

"_Crap…she noticed,"_ thought Daichi.

Jaden looked at Daichi for a few seconds before placing the palm of her hand on Daichi's forehead. Daichi blinked and sighed at the cool feel of Jaden's hand…

"You're burning up!" said Jaden. "You have a fever!"

Daichi was taken aback with Jaden's reaction as she usually never showed this much concern…unless it involved Shou; since he _was_ (_is_) her otouto. Suddenly, Daichi felt himself being pushed back into the Ra Yellow dorm. He turned to see that it was Jaden, intent on making Daichi go back to his room to get some rest.

"Go to your room…I'll call Ayukawa-sensei to pay you a visit!" said Jaden.

"Wouldn't it be easy if I go with you and help you out?" Daichi asked.

"No!" snapped Jaden.

Later,

Jaden grumbled as a fever-stricken Daichi walked right by her side, helping her carry one of the two items, or boxes (in this current case) Daitokuji sent Jaden to pick up from Tome's store. Somehow, the Ra Yellow managed to convince Jaden to let him help her out…whether she wanted to or not. Sometimes the Osiris Red wondered if she was beginning to rub off on Daichi…but then again, the Ra Yellow could be very persistent when he wanted to or when given the choice.

Jaden adjusted her hold on the box in her arms before looking at Daichi to make sure he was okay. If he was heading back with her to the Osiris Red dorm…He was staying.

"You're staying with us," said Jaden. "I'll call Ayukawa-sensei, so don't even think of going back to your dorm."

Daichi was about to protest until he saw the stern look Jaden gave him. He clamped up and just nodded. No point in arguing with Jaden…especially since he knew how stubborn she could really be.

"You're staying in my room," said Jaden.

Daichi's eyes widened as he let out a shocked exclamation.

"What?" he exclaimed.

Jaden looked at Daichi and explained, "I have no problem rooming with Shou and Hayato."

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Daichi's face as he said, "Of course…"

"Okay!" said Jaden. "Anyways, we're just about there…think you can handle it?"

Daichi looked at Jaden and nodded once as he adjusted his hold on the box. What was it that was inside of it anyways? It was heavy! How could Jaden carry that box? Hell, how could he when he was sick? Nothing made sense! (3)

"What's in here?" asked Daichi.

Jaden blinked and looked at the Ra Yellow.

"Oh…it's some stuff to help me make some chocolate," said Jaden.

Daichi sweat dropped…it was somewhat typical of Jaden to say that. Leave it to her to want to make chocolate herself…or so he assumed since Jaden did like sharing food sometimes. At least that made sense since it really did explain why Jaden was wearing her current outfit. She was ready and set to cook…it kinda suited her.

* * *

Meanwhile with a certain Obelisk Blue duo,

Currently walking around campus, aimlessly looking for something or some_one_…were Reizo and Taniguchi. Though, the search seemed rather one-sided on Taniguchi's perspective, seeing as all he wanted to do was look at the new set of manga he got. Man, the wait for the next volumes felt so long…and the first thing he wanted to do when he got them, was to read them…it was then that Reizo dragged him out of the room to begin this pointless search…why?

"I don't understand why we're out here, Reizo-san," said Taniguchi. "Can't we just go back?"

Reizo turned to Taniguchi and scowled at him.

"No!" snapped Reizo. "We're looking for Judai!"

Taniguchi blinked a few times before asking, "Chocolates?"

"No crap," remarked Reizo.

Taniguchi sighed and asked again, "Why don't we ask her tomorrow?"

"Because she'll be too busy making chocolate that day!" snapped Reizo. "I heard that the Obelisk Blue girls take awhile to make chocolate…a whole day, even. If that's true, then Judai won't be anywhere outside of the kitchen tomorrow."

Taniguchi let out an aggravated sigh and diverted his eyes away from Reizo. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure.

"Speaking of Judai…isn't that her?" Taniguchi asked, directing Reizo's attention at two very familiar figures…a Ra Yellow and assuming that the second person is a girl…an Obelisk Blue.

There are only two students that Reizo and Taniguchi know that fit that description at Duel Academy when together…Judai and Daichi Misawa. But Reizo was only interested in the Obelisk Blue…especially after managing to get a good look at what Judai was wearing. The moment Taniguchi felt his wrist breathe (Reizo had an extremely string grip…), the black-haired boy immediately knew where his friend left him for…

"Judai…" Taniguchi sighed.

Thoughts about heading back to his own dorm crossed Taniguchi's mind, but were quickly dismissed as he decided to stay and see what pain Judai's reaction would cause Reizo.

* * *

Back with a certain duo,

Daichi let out a slightly strained sigh. The fever was beginning to take its toll on Daichi's balance a bit. Jaden noticed that and immediately asked the Ra Yellow to hand her the box he was carrying. Though at first, resisting, Daichi ended up giving into Jaden's persistence and placed the box he was carrying on top of hers.

Jaden toppled a bit to the left and then the right from the sudden addition to the weight she was carrying, but she managed to pull it together.

"Damn…this is heavy…" said Jaden.

Daichi diverted his eyes on Jaden as he wiped his forehead with his hand.

"And you wanted to do this alone, Ichiban-kun…" Daichi remarked.

Jaden scowled at Daichi before turning her head to the side.

"That's only because you're sick," she replied, somewhat annoyed. "I didn't want to feel like a burden to you…hey! Don't give me that look!"

Daichi's grin widened a bit. _"So she does care…that's kind of…cute—h-hold on one moment…is that—?"_

Daichi squinted as he tried to differentiate the blue-uniformed figure heading towards him and Jaden. It didn't take long before he recognized it as a certain, annoying suitor that gender-mistaken girl had, Reizo Fuwa.

"Ah…Judai-kun…you might want to look," Daichi said quietly.

Jaden blinked a few times and turned to Daichi, wondering why he was referring to her by her alias. It then hit her…

"Oh, god…don't tell me…" said Jaden.

"Judai!" exclaimed a rather familiar, but annoying voice.

Jaden bit her lip and groaned inwardly. It was…Reizo friggin' Fuwa…the more Jaden managed to bump into him, the more she thought that he was stalking her. This was nothing like her bullies!

"I can handle bullies, but him…" said Jaden.

Daichi blinked and looked strangely at Jaden. She never mentioned anything about bullies, had she? Daichi didn't know anymore…the fever was beginning to go to his head, but still…

"What's this about bullies?" asked Daichi. "Wait…never mind…that explains the self-defense."

Jaden let out a sigh in relief. That was one explanation she didn't have to say…back to reality with the stalker-like annoyance that was Reizo…

"What do you want?" Jaden-er, Judai… asked as Reizo walked up to her.

Reizo tried to catch his breath after stopping in front of the girl of his dreams. Apparently, his infatuation went _that_ far…maybe even further, but I don't want to look into details. It might just be _that_ disturbing…or even worse.

A sudden chill went up Judai's spine.

"_I feel slightly violated…"_ thought Judai. _"Hold on…is he talking to me? Well…crap…"_

Apparently so…Reizo managed to think up a cheesy question to ask Judai…too bad it was pointless, seeing as the girl hadn't even been listening to him at all.

"Excuse me…were you talking to me?" asked Judai.

"Ichiban-kun, he's been talking to you for the past minute…" said Daichi. "You really have to stop blanking out sometimes."

Judai blinked and turned her head to the side, her cheeks slightly puffed up and her lips slightly pouted.

"Not my fault I get off track so easily…" Judai remarked.

Judai was miffed to a certain extend (no thanks to Reizo and Daichi's question…yeah.) and didn't realize that she gave off a tsundere-like characteristic. This just piqued Reizo's interest in the girl even more…which was bad for Judai.

Luckily, this wasn't the case Judai didn't have to deal with…however, it was something that Daichi had to, though. After seeing the boxes Judai was carrying and then Daichi, Reizo got ticked off at seeing his favorite girl having to carrying a heavy burden. I mean, she was small…and those boxes! And that Ra Yellow…

"_Has he no shame?"_ thought Reizo. "Oi, Misawa! Haven't you ever heard of chivalry?"

Yes, Daichi actually has (in the form of a different word, which is politeness)…which was the reason he was out here in the first place. Judai just relieved him of his act after seeing his fever begin to take its toll on him. Though, why would Reizo…oh, never mind that, then, Daichi figured that part out just now.

"_He's taking this the wrong way…" _thought Daichi. "Look, Reizo…or whatever your name is."

"That's Fuwa-_san_, to you!" snapped Reizo.

Judai closed her eyes and snorted. "Safer wannabe…"

Reizo arched his brow at Judai after hearing that name…why did it sound so familiar? He was sure he heard it somewhere before during a duel. Whatever, it was not like it was important or anything to him.

"Fine, Fuwa-san…" said Daichi. "It's not what it looks like—"

Reizo immediately popped up in front of Daichi's face, unknowingly sparking a fire in Judai's rage.

"Oh, really?" said Reizo. "Then why aren't you the one helping her carry those boxes?"

Judai growled and just snapped. "Because I'm the one who took the box he was carrying! Gah! Leave me alone! I'm busy! Go away!"

Reizo flinched at Judai's loud tone and backed away slightly, intimidated by the look in Judai's eyes…since when were her eyes a golden color? Wait, false alarm…man…

"_I have got to stop reading _Twilight_…"_ thought Reizo.

All in all, Reizo really didn't like _Twilight_, but he heard the ladies loved it, so why not? He later found out it was all a lie after going through the most horrible experience once he reached _New Moon_. That obsession…why did it seem slightly familiar…like déjà vu?

Speaking of _Twilight_…Reizo currently recalled that he had the first book with him. Why did he have it? He was thinking of giving it to Seiko at Tome's store, seeing as he heard she just turned seventeen just a few days ago. But seeing as he was with Judai…maybe she'd want it. It would so save him a trip to the store…he could always buy Seiko a card pack since she always appreciated a boost in her own deck.

Reizo reached into his jacket and pulled out a paperback, black book and held it out to Judai. Judai looked at the book in question and narrowed her eyes when she saw the familiar red apple on the cover.

"No…no…no…give it to Misawa, but not me," said Judai. "I have enough things to carry since this guy's not feeling well."

Daichi flinched at the fact that Jaden-er, Judai…brought that up again. It made him feel awkward and _Twilight_?

"Judai-kun, don't you hate _Twilight_ for the fact that it goes against the myths about sunlight turning a vampire to ash?" Daichi asked Judai.

Judai nodded as she hastily grabbed the book out of Reizo's hands (after setting down the boxes onto the ground) before thrusting the novel into Daichi's hands.

"Since you really seem to know me…which you better," said Judai. "Then you do the math! It's not that hard…anyways, thanks for the marshmallow fire. I'm sure the s'mores will be as good as the last batch we made when I used that wannabe manga of _Twilight_ as tinder."

Reizo looked at Judai in disbelief. All those rumors…they _were_ so crap! He got into the series for no good damn reason! He was _so_ going to kill Taniguchi…right after he read the last book. He wasn't one to just leave a series unfinished…especially since he was three books into the series.

Moving on back to real subject of matter…did Judai just say Misawa wasn't feeling well?

"Judai…how is Misawa ill?" asked Reizo.

Judai blinked as she was about ready to pick up the boxes, having just gotten a good hold on them. A scowl crossed her face as she stood up straight and walked over to Reizo. Reizo looked at Judai stunned as she grabbed his hand and dragged him over to Daichi before placing his hand on the Ra Yellow's forehead.

He was touching that Ra Yellow's forehead…

"_Ugh…I am _so_ washing this hand…"_ thought Reizo.

Though, another thought popped up in mind to contradict that idea seeing as…Judai just held his hand. Judai…his hand…with hers…a noticeable red blush tinged Reizo's cheeks as those thoughts flooded his mind.

"Well?" asked Judai.

That snapped Reizo out of it…and he felt a rather hot temperature emanating from the forehead the palm of his hand was touching.

"_Judai was right…Misawa isn't feeling too well,"_ thought Reizo.

Well, this was awkward…even more so, seeing as Reizo just berated Daichi for not helping out his girlfriend, not noticing that the Ra Yellow was sick with a fever. What's more, is that he also questioned Judai's statement about Daichi himself! Judai…

"Hey!" snapped Judai. "Misawa, I said I'd handle the carrying!"

"Ichiban-kun, there are times I give into your persistency, but this isn't one," said Daichi. "So you might as well stay quiet and deal with it until we head back to the dorm! Afterwards, you can do whatever you please, so long as we get this done."

Judai stared at Daichi, stunned with the fact that he grew a backbone…so much for keeping him stable. Though, it was nice to hear that he'd still help her out…the weight of those two boxes combined were giving her arms a bit of a strain.

"What's this about going back to Judai's dorm?" Reizo asked.

Both Daichi and Judai turned to Reizo, the looks on their face very much perplexed, seeing as they never thought up a plan to keep Reizo at bay. This meant one thing…

"Oh, we are _so_ screwed…" muttered Judai. _"Please, Osiris, _please_ let him be an idiot…"_

Daichi was just silent…he was already a bit too stressed out as it is to think of a plan this quickly to keep the arrogant Obelisk Blue from thinking otherwise, or worse…following them. If he was as ignorant as he was arrogant …then Daichi and Judai would count themselves as lucky, but what are the chances of—

"I didn't think you had it in you," Reizo said as he placed his arm around Daichi's shoulder. "You sly dog, you! You two still have a long life ahead of you and your relationship…go easy! No need to rush, but that's just me…"

Daichi looked questioningly at Reizo. Apparently, the Obelisk Blue was ignorant and…dear Ra, did he just imply? (4) Daichi and Judai…him and her, both planning on doing the…the—No, that was beyond wrong…it was like! No…it was too horrible to even think of… Oh, no…the memories of when Daichi first encountered the truth about Ichiban-kun's gender…

THUD!

Yeah, Daichi remembered hearing a sound like that…wait, hold on a second!

"Huh?" he said.

Daichi snapped back into reality and noticed what had currently happened. Judai had her fist thrust into Reizo's stomach, the Obelisk Blue's eyes wide with shock. A small cough escaped Reizo's mouth before the brunet collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. Daichi stared at the Obelisk Blue, a small bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

Judai just managed to knock out a boy, who was a good amount of height taller than her, with just one good punch. The gender-mistaken girl was panting as she glared at Reizo, obviously mad with what he implied. After a full minute, she looked at Daichi and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry about that, but I didn't like the sound of where that was going," Jaden said, somewhat awkwardly. "I don't know what he was trying to say, but it didn't sound good…"

Daichi looked at Jaden, baffled with what he just heard. She didn't understand Reizo's implication…rather than explain to the Osiris Red what the Obelisk Blue meant, Daichi decided to keep quiet about this one. Who knows what serious injuries might ensue from the results of _that_ explanation?

Daichi shook his head as he really needed to get off that subject. Besides, he still had a job to do and that was helping Jaden out. Since Reizo was unconscious, now was a good time as any to get going before he woke up. Jaden seemed to acknowledge that fact as she was now picking up the box on the ground.

"Shall we leave?" Daichi asked.

Jaden turned to Daichi, the box in her arms. She smiled and said, "Oh yes, let's."

And so the fever-stricken Daichi and gender-mistaken Jaden started walking, their destination: the Osiris Red dorm. They never noticed the Obelisk Blue Jaden knocked being dragged away by his friend, Taniguchi. And that's how Taniguchi wanted it to stay like that! He'd best make up a lie to avoid having his friend go after Judai and go through this again…

"Right after I read my manga…" Taniguchi said under his breath.

* * *

Back with Jaden and Daichi,

"By the way, what did Reizo mean by that, Misawa?" Jaden asked innocently.

Daichi began to stutter as he tried to immediately change the subject.

"So…how's Red doing to you these days?" Daichi asked quickly.

Jaden immediately scowled at the name and exclaimed, "The damn game went and deleted my whole save file!"

"Save file corruption due to a low battery life?" Daichi guessed.

"The very same…how do you know?" Jaden asked, eyeing Daichi suspiciously.

Daichi sighed and shook his head. Well, looks like today brought up the situation involving one of his pastime hobbies he had as a kid. Might as well begin to avoid that damn topic about Reizo's innuendo…

"Happened to me once playing Silver," said Daichi. "Thanks to your references, I find myself thinking of buying the remakes of Silver and Gold. And just when I thought I outgrew that series…" (5)

Jaden turned her head to the side.

"Well, you actually never outgrow Pokémon, at least in my opinion," said Jaden. "You just lose interest…but seeing as you've managed to find out about the remakes, I think your interest came back. Good luck with trying to catch up with the new addition to the Pokédex! There are now almost over 500 Pokémon since then!"

Daichi sighed as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Now he remembered how he lost his interest…aside from that veteran trainer, Red, it was the fact that he struggled to complete that damn Pokédex. The battles were okay, and as a kid, it was the type of game play that challenged his intellect at times. The strategies…it was actually a great help as a kid…as a _kid_, emphasis on _**kid**_. After the encounter with the data file corruption…he was done, seeing as he now had more important matters at stake…like studying and dueling.

"Have you ever played _Final Fantasy_?" Jaden asked.

Daichi sweat dropped. Great Ra…Jaden was getting into this talk of video games _waaay_ too easily…

"I'm only familiar with _VI_, _VII_, _VIII_, and maybe _IX_," Daichi answered. "Frankly, I think the only villain I could remember is the long, silver-haired man with the seven-foot long sword named Masamune and…I think Kefka. I think you should find the first very familiar…am I right?"

It was an obvious question, seeing as Jaden gave a certain Obelisk Blue a nickname involving a certain silver-haired man wielding Masamune.

"Hey, have you heard of the _Final Fantasy_ and _Disney_ crossover game?" asked Jaden.

Daichi looked at Jaden questioningly. There was such a game like that?

"Is it any good?" Daichi asked. "Sorry, I lost interest in video games by the time I turned eleven…or, I think it was around the time my save file went and deleted itself."

Jaden looked at Daichi in disbelief.

"You're kidding me…" said Jaden. "You mean you never played a game or heard of one in where you can hit people over and kill dark, literally heartless creatures with an oversized key-like sword?"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Daichi's face.

"You know, when you put it that way, it sounds like a bad thing," said Daichi. "So, what's the storyline for this game?"

"Well, you're on your own for this part since I'll just spoil it," replied Jaden. "Besides, with the new game related to the series being the prequel…I'm sure this is the greatest way to catch up without spoiling everything you know already. It did for me somewhat since I played the games after it…"

"_Square Soft_ sure does enjoy publishing games out of chronological order sometimes," remarked Daichi. "I can assume from the fact that _Crisis Core_ came after _VII_."

"You got that right," said Jaden. "Oh, and you might want to know this…it's now _Square Enix_."

Daichi blinked and laughed somewhat awkwardly.

"Oh, right…I tend to forget about that," said Daichi. "So…you mind telling me what console this game's on?"

Jaden looked at Daichi, stunned with what she just heard.

"You mean you're seriously thinking of playing this series?" asked Jaden. "What about studying and everything that productive? I recall you saying games were nothing but a waste of time."

Daichi turned away, his face flushed with either embarrassment or most likely from the fact that he had a fever. Either way, he didn't want Jaden looking him straight in the eye.

"Yes, I may have said that," said Daichi. "But depending on the game, it may actually help build up your strategy making skills. And there's no harm in wasting time every once in a while…right?"

Jaden looked at Daichi agape and placed her hand on his forehead.

"I think the fever is starting to go to your head," said Jaden. "We gotta get to the dorm…and get Ayukawa-sensei on your case."

Daichi sighed and shook his head.

"No, Ichiban-kun, I actually meant that," said Daichi. "Besides, I believe that sometimes I may tend to over study…and it may cause me stress. As a kid, I played these games due to the fact that they help ease some of my stress during the study sessions I've made a few weeks before the exams."

Jaden took her hand off Daichi's forehead and nodded in agreement.

"You do have a point, there," said Jaden. "I usually do that a week before the exams…and that's after a two-week session of nonstop studying. My dad _makes_ me take that break and that's where we start shooting zombies all week or solving riddles while avoiding this cult of some sort."

"_Resident Evil_ and _Silent Hill_?" asked Daichi.

Jaden grinned and looked at Daichi. "You know it!"

"You are a very interesting person with an intriguing father whose bad side I would not like to get on," said Daichi.

"And you're a very good friend…" said Jaden. "I never knew you had a different side to what you usually did…I like that! It's like Kaiser Ryou and Shou when they sometimes share a bento some girl gave the Kaiser!"

Daichi never knew that Ryou shared his bentos with Shou…that's rather adorable. Not to mention, also rather nice and brotherly.

"By the way, you didn't hear anything from me when it comes to that," said Jaden. "Ryou will most likely strangle me because I caused a girl to cry and he has enough heartbroken girls on his case."

"My lips are sealed," said Daichi.

Jaden sighed and continued on, "Anyways…if you want, I'll let you borrow my consoles and games if you want to get into the series. But a warning at first…the prequel to the series is a bit of a tearjerker and _Days_…yeah, it's definitely a tearjerker, or at least in my opinion."

Daichi sighed and shook his head as he said, "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think I'll get that emotional over a nonfictional storyline…the same applies for a character."

Jaden blinked a few times and smirked.

"What about Aerith Gainsborough?" she asked, watching Daichi closely for any reaction.

Daichi froze and slowly turned his head to Jaden, a glazed look in his eyes.

"She was an exception," said Daichi. "The poor flower girl…" (6)

Jaden nodded, her smirk never once leaving her face. Daichi was a rather interesting person when he wasn't feeling too well…must be the fever getting to him. Luckily for them, they were just in front of the Osiris Red dorm and Daitokuji was currently outside of the kitchen, waiting for Jaden.

After some help from Daitokuji and a call made to Ayukawa, Daichi was now in Jaden's room, trying to rest up as he was advise to do. Meanwhile in the kitchen, Jaden and Daitokuji were now getting to making that chocolate…yeah, a question just popped into mind in both student and teacher.

"Why didn't they bother using cocoa powder?" they both said simultaneously. (7)

And so began the teacher-student bonding…let it start!

"So, we're supposed to put these nibs in this…juicer thing…right?" asked Jaden.

Daitokuji looked at the directions on the paper he had in his hands.

"I believe we do-nya," said Daitokuji.

Jaden sighed and walked over to the counter to pick up the bag.

"This is gonna take a while…" said Jaden. "Just in case we screw up…"

"By we, do you mean, you-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Jaden's eye twitched slightly as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Well, I was being subtle, but yeah," said Jaden. "So, do we have any cocoa powder?"

"In the cupboard, next to the dishes," said Daitokuji. "Don't make a mess looking for it because I just finished cleaning a few hours ago-nya."

Jaden nodded her head and replied, "Got it! Now that I have my backup plan, let's get started. Nghh…why me?"

Daitokuji reassuringly patted Jaden on the head as he passed by her to turn on the juicer. This was definitely going to take a while…literally.

Minutes later, Jaden was currently trying her hardest at keeping the hairdryer pointed at the grinder while trying to stay awake. Boredom was the very main reason she fell asleep in class…this was no different, but unlike class…a failure at an attempt to make chocolates might be enough to activate a flag for Junko and Momoe to get more blackmail on her. And believe me, that is not a good thing…well, to Jaden, since her father…let's move on!

"How much longer do I have to keep this up?" Jaden asked.

Daitokuji was currently engrossed within the instructions Jaden wrote down after listening to her friend, Midori. There were so many things to do…

"Yuki-kun…I'm starting to question why you even hang out with your girlfriends-nya," said Daitokuji. "I mean, I've seen what they've done to you…aren't you a least bit disturbed-nya?"

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Daitokuji.

"You have no idea…" said Jaden. _"The padded bra and undergarment set still lingers in my most mortifying memories…"_

Because how Junko managed to get an accurate measurement on Jaden's physique without measuring tape is rather strange, indeed. And wearing them wasn't the most happiest of all her memories…at all. Though the things involved while she wore them, were a different story!

"So how much longer?" asked Jaden.

"I think now would be a good time to stop…" said Daitokuji.

Jaden sighed and flipped the switch on the hairdryer, turning it off. She set it down on the table and stretched her arms out while letting out a loud groan. Afterwards, she looked at Daitokuji and asked, "So what now?"

"It says here to let it refine for…at least ten hours-nya," said Daitokuji.

Jaden nearly fell down at that reply. She looked at Daitokuji with complete utter shock.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" asked Jaden. "At this rate, we won't be finished…oh. That's what Midori meant by taking awhile…pfft. Awhile my—"

"Yuki-kun," Daitokuji said sternly.

Jaden blinked owlishly and said, "What? I was gonna say 'deck'."

Daitokuji stared at Jaden for a full minute before sighing and shaking his head.

"Tenjoin-kun is right-nya…" said Daitokuji. "You are interesting…"

"You know, I've been told that a lot of times," said Jaden. "Strange how it hasn't gotten to the point where it is annoying, yet. So…what do we do now, while we wait?"

"Do you want to duel?" asked Daitokuji.

Jaden immediately perked up to her teacher's offer. She didn't even bother answering as she dashed out of the kitchen and out of the dining hall. Daitokuji stared at the door Jaden ran out of and sweat dropped.

"I'd take that as a yes-nya," said Daitokuji.

As Jaden ran into her room, effectively waking up Daichi and scaring the crap out of him when she just barged in, Daitokuji filled his teapot with water and set it on the stove to boil. If he was going to duel one of his students, he might as well make some tea to ease the stress caused by a certain class he had a few hours ago…no, it wasn't Jaden's class, it was a very different one…though, the cause was rather strange. Two Obelisk Blues were suddenly at it for some unknown reason over a girl they had taken a liking to. Ryou Marufuji knew what it was, but he stayed quiet about it and when Daitokuji asked, all he got was the name, 'Judai'.

"Judai," repeated Daitokuji.

It took him a few moments to recall that that had been his female Osiris Red's alias. Teenager…it was very suiting, though ironic. Speaking of his Osiris Red, she had just came barging through the door and—

"Yuki-kun, watch out for—" Daitokuji was cut off as Jaden exclaimed and fell down onto the ground…right after tripping over Pharaoh, accidentally.

Apparently, Pharaoh had been an innocent bystander who was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Jaden came barging through that door. Jaden was currently glaring at the tabby, who meowed innocently before walking up to the gender-mistaken girl and licking her on the cheek. Jaden sighed and gently scratched Pharaoh's head.

"Sorry if I hurt you…" said Jaden.

Pharaoh purred and nuzzled Jaden's cheek gently as if he understood and accepted her apology. Jaden sighed and pushed herself off the ground. After dusting off her apron and checking it over, Jaden walked over to Daitokuji, her deck in hand.

"I've been dying to check out your deck!" said Jaden. "Dueling you is just an added bonus because I've also want to see your skills!"

Daitokuji adjusted his glasses and took out his deck as he said, "So you in-nya?"

"Of course I am!" said Jaden. "Let's do it!"

A small gleam of light reflected off the lenses of Daitokuji's glasses as said professor smiled at Jaden.

"Well, then," said Daitokuji. "I should give a fair warning-nya…I won't be holding back."

Jaden snorted as she shuffled her deck.

"Please!" said Jaden. "Holding back is for noobs! And I, for one, am not a noob!"

Daitokuji chuckled and began to shuffle his deck.

"Don't say I didn't warn you-nya," said Daitokuji. "Bet you never went up against an Alchemist deck, have you-nya?" (8)

Jaden stopped shuffling her deck and looked at Daitokuji.

"Now that you mentioned that…I really haven't, actually," said Jaden. "Oh, this is gonna be fun! You go first! I want to see how you start out!"

Sometime later,

"Wow, I didn't see that coming," said Jaden.

Daitokuji collected his cards off the table and shuffled them back into his deck.

"Neither did I-nya," said Daitokuji. "I didn't expect you to lose. Speaking of which…why aren't you disappointed-nya?"

Jaden stretched her arms as she looked at Daitokuji.

"Well…" she said. "I rarely lose in duels, nowadays, so losing is actually a new experience for me. It's not that bad, actually. I'm rather impressed."

Daitokuji arched his brow at Jaden.

"How so?" asked Daitokuji.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Daitokuji as she drank her mug full of tea. After lowering her mug and swallowing, she continued on.

"With your strategy," said Jaden. "Destroying my cards by removing them from play…all while powering up your own monsters as each monster is removed from play…That is a very unique strategy next to the variety of occult deck strategies. You think things through, don't ya?"

"You have no idea…" said Daitokuji.

Seriously, she had no idea. He spent about a whole week thinking over his Alchemist deck's strategy after spending a near month building set deck. And then came getting used to the build-up of the strategy… Needless to say, all that work paid off in the end.

"Best two out of three?" asked Jaden.

Daitokuji stared at Jaden and grinned.

"Face it, Yuki-kun," said Daitokuji. "You have a long way to go before you defeat me-nya."

"I know, but come on!" said Jaden. "It was fun dueling you! And I want to see if I can beat you this time!"

Daitokuji stayed silent for a few minutes before he started shuffling his deck.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you-nya," said Daitokuji.

"I like challenges," Jaden said as she shuffled her deck. "You are by far, my favorite opponent I've dueled so far! I don't care if I lose! It's fun!"

Daitokuji chuckled. Jaden was most definitely his favorite student up to this point now. So the feeling was mutual. That's a start for once…none of these one-sided situations like that one from a few years back in his first year teaching at Duel Academy. Valentine's Day…how he hated that day because he ended up making a few girls cry.

Later,

"Best three out of five?" asked Jaden.

Daitokuji's grin just widened as he shuffled his deck again. This was beginning to be rather entertaining for him. It was just so adorable with how Jaden wasn't ready to give up anytime soon. This was really a great way to past the time.

Later,

Jaden let out an irritated groan and stood up from her seat.

"Oh, come on!" whined Jaden. "I wasn't even trying that time!" (9)

Daitokuji nearly dropped his deck as he collected his cards off the table.

"Are you serious?" exclaimed Daitokuji.

Damn…Jaden actually gave him a hard time this time and now that he found out she wasn't even trying…

"I'm really impressed with you-nya," said Daitokuji. "You weren't even trying…"

Jaden's eye twitched slightly at this mention.

"Which is what's ticking me off!" said Jaden. "I hate it when this happens! I wasn't even trying because I was…"

Jaden trailed off as she let out a loud yawn. Daitokuji arched his brow at her and then looked at the watch on his wrist.

"Yuki-kun…it's rather late-nya," said Daitokuji. "I think you should go to your room."

Jaden yawned again as she rubbed her eyes with her hands.

"But I don't wanna…the chocolate," said Jaden.

"Yuki-kun…it won't be done until tomorrow," said Daitokuji. "It's best you get some sleep-nya. Good night."

Jaden yawned again as she waved it off.

"Fine," she said. "I'll go…but tomorrow, it begins again!"

Daitokuji stared at Jaden and smiled.

"Sure-nya," said Daitokuji. "After we finish making the chocolate, we will, though."

Jaden glared at Daitokuji for a few seconds before waving it off.

"Oh, sure…right, after that," said Jaden. "Well, good night!"

Jaden waved at Daitokuji and walked out of the kitchen, covering her mouth to muffle yet another yawn. Daitokuji watched Jaden walk out before looking down at his cat, Pharaoh, who was currently rubbing against his leg, meowing. Daitokuji knelt down and picked up Pharaoh, holding the tabby cat in his arms.

"I guess that also means lights out for us-nya," said Daitokuji.

Pharaoh meowed and nuzzled against Daitokuji's arms. Daitokuji smiled and began to make his way out of the kitchen…after turning off the stove.

* * *

Meanwhile within one of the TOOLSHED'S rooms!

Jaden walked into her room…the other room…the one she shared with Hayato and Shou…yeah, that room! Anyways, Jaden walked into the room, already dressed in her lilac and white jersey (Gym class uniform). Hayato and Shou, both whom were currently dueling each other, turned to Jaden, slightly curious as to what brought her into their room this late. Another wonder that currently popped into mind…or in Jaden's mind, was why her roommates were still awake when they usually slept in early unless otherwise, which is what seem to be the case.

"Oi, Aniki!" said Shou. "Where have you been?"

Jaden yawned as she closed the door behind her. Afterwards, she kicked off her shoes and started making her way towards the bottom bunk bed.

"With Daitokuji-sensei in the kitchen," Jaden said sleepily. "We were at it for nearly five hours straight…"

Hayato arched his brow at Jaden.

"How so?" asked Hayato.

"He had the greatest strategy ever!" said Jaden. "And his deck…ah! He had me beat…and the last one, I wasn't even trying and I almost beat him."

"Aniki, you lost in another duel?" exclaimed Shou.

"I lost four times in a row…that's a new record!" said Jaden. "I'm impressed…well, I'm gonna go to sleep. Continue on what you're doing and by the way, Hayato, you're doing great!"

And with that, Jaden got into her bed and fell fast asleep. Hayato and Shou looked at their female roommate before looking at each other. They sighed and went back to their duel.

"Flat-chest sure is one weird girl," said Hayato.

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Shou's face.

"Shh!" said Shou. "Aniki might here you!"

Hayato waved it off as he said, "Fat chance, she's asleep."

WHACK!

Hayato yelped as he just got whacked over the head with a pillow a few times. He shook his head and looked back to see his female roommate glaring at him with a pillow in her arms.

"I heard that, ya know," said Jaden. "I'll be watching you closely, Koala-man, so don't get any ideas."

Hayato just stayed silent, earning a solemn nod from Jaden as she went back to her bed, satisfied. After a full minute, Shou broke the silence and said, "I told you so, Hayato-kun."

"Shut up," said Hayato.

The next day,

Jaden blinked a few times, slightly fazed from the small fall she had after rolling out of bed accidentally. She rubbed the back of her head gingerly, being careful not to apply to much pressure on the sensitive spot that would most likely form into a small bump later on, caused from the impact her head had on the floor. Jaden rolled onto her stomach and attempted to get off the floor…only to give up and just sigh. She was too tired for this…

Jaden diverted her eyes on the alarm clock, curious as to what time she woke up. She closed her eyes and let out a slightly small groan. It was waaay too early for her to be up as it wasn't even close to being five. Feeling lazy and unable to find the energy to get up from the floor, Jaden just reached for her pillow and blankets and pulled them down onto the floor with her. She then attempted to fall asleep…only for a loud meow to wake her up the second she just happened to fall asleep.

She opened one chocolate brown eye and looked around, spotting Pharaoh sitting right in front of her head. Pharaoh continued to meow as he walked over to the door and pawed at it once he stopped in front of it. Jaden buried her face into her pillow and muffled a rather annoyed groan into it.

After a few minutes, Jaden finally got up from the floor and stood up; using her blanket to cover herself as she knew how sometimes the mornings were on the island. Since it was still February…expect a rather chilly breeze today!

Jaden walked over to the door and sluggishly pulled on her shoes, not caring that she wasn't wearing any socks. Afterwards, she grabbed the doorknob and turned it, opening the door for Pharaoh to get out. Jaden yawned as Pharaoh walked out of the room the gender-mistaken girl shared with her friends, who were still fast asleep…lucky bastards…

It took only a matter of minutes for Jaden to realize that she wasn't going to be falling asleep anytime soon.

"Great…" she muttered. "It's one of those days…"

By one of those days, it meant that Jaden woke up at the earliest of times and couldn't go back to sleep afterwards. She had one of those days at _least_ once a week, during which she would usually spend about an hour distracting herself by looking over her deck or killing some time attempting to defeat Red (which is currently not an option due to what happened a few days ago). It was back to square one and that meant Hayato (a.k.a. Falkner) was going to be a royal pain for her Chikorita…

Jaden blinked a few times as she realized something.

"Koala-man and Bird-boy share the same names," Jaden said, smirking afterwards. _"Payback, time…"_

If Hayato wouldn't stop calling her Yellow, than she won't stop calling him by Hayato's English name, Falkner (next to the name, Koala-man). He will _so_ get the reference… Jaden laughed quietly, feeling oddly satisfied. (10)

"Now, where did I leave my deck…" thought Jaden.

As much as taking the challenge once more as a new Trainer seemed rather tempting, strategizing her deck seemed more important at the moment. Jaden still wanted to find a way to defeat Daitokuji or at least attempt to by making the outcome a double knockout (tie).

About two hours later, Jaden walked out of her room in her current garb. She wasn't going to go into her room and risk waking up Daichi…actually, she needed to check up on him, but it was only thirty past five in the morning.

"_I don't think he'd appreciate being woken up this early…"_ thought Jaden.

He wouldn't as Daichi was currently having the best dream of his life. He had finally defeated Jaden in the most epic and greatest duel he had ever had in his lifetime (in which both he and Jaden agreed on with mutual terms), managed to finally become number one, and he even had a girlfriend…wait, that wasn't Asuka or that Obelisk Blue girl, Seika (thank Ra…), the girl sort of looked like—

Daichi's breath hitched as he woke up in a cold sweat. He sat up in bed, breathing in and out heavily as he tried to calm his pounding heart. He looked around the room with wide eyes, almost questioning why he wasn't in his own room until his memory began to kick in. He was in Jaden's room because he was sick with a cold…that about summed it up.

Daichi inhaled deeply and exhaled as he placed his hand on his forehead. The washcloth was still on his forehead, slightly damp, but that wasn't the most of his concerns. It was who his girlfriend was in that dream…Asuka's jokes were beginning to get to him. Sighing, Daichi lied back down in bed and closed his eyes as he tried to think of the bright side.

"_It could've been worse,"_ thought Daichi.

Indeed. It could've been one of those dreams involving commitment…or worse! Daichi face palmed as he regretted ever thinking what was worse than the commitment part. Damn his thoughts…damn this fever! It was most likely the cause of thinking right now! (11)

* * *

Back with Jaden,

Jaden yawned as she continued to run the red comb's teeth through Daitokuji's long, black hair. It was just a typical day for the both of them since, oddly enough, when Jaden had her days; Daitokuji seemed to share them with her. Must be because Pharaoh was usually the cause of this…no matter since all it will did was make Daitokuji and Jaden create a somewhat weekly routine.

Jaden usually found Daitokuji at the table by six in the morning, asleep with the coffee maker currently on and filling the room with the scent of freshly brewed coffee. During which, Daitokuji was in a disheveled state at the time. Jaden took care of that by usually being the one who helped the professor with his tie and most of the time; she was the one who did his hair.

Jaden actually liked long hair and used to have it…until a small incident involving some of her bullies and a pair of scissors…it's pretty much self-explanatory. Aside from that incident, in which she now chose to keep her hair short to a certain point, she still liked long hair. She just liked brushing it and brushing it and… (12)

Jaden blinked and shook her head.

"Damn girly quirks…" she muttered as she gently nudged Daitokuji awake.

Daitokuji jolted a bit in his seat, stiffening as he tried to recall what happened. He relaxed when he remembered that it was just him, Pharaoh, and his female Osiris Red…who was brushing his hair. A small smile formed on his lips as he knew that this was one of Jaden's very few feminine quirks. It was rather cute to see that the Osiris Red had an interest in long hair and tried to hide it. He could tell that Jaden was struggling to keep her quirk in place as he recalled that the last time she brushed his hair…he woke up with a braid.

"Yuki-kun…if you want to braid it," said Daitokuji. "Make sure it doesn't make me look too feminine-nya."

And that pulled the trigger as he could hear his student muffle a squeal and immediately start her work on his hair. Daitokuji just sighed and shook his head. He was going to regret this, but for all it was worth…he could make an exception to this. Just so long as any girl in his class who sees him with his hair in a braid, doesn't compare him to a diminutive-sized blond from a rather popular series due to the fact that they both share the alchemistic trait. (13)

"_I am not short…"_ thought Daitokuji.

Damn straight, he wasn't. He was at _least_ a good six inches taller than the blond…at least he thought he was. It's been a while since he read the latest volume of the series, so if anything, the kid might've grown some a bit like in that movie.

"Daitokuji-sensei, I got another _Twilight_ novel we can burn," said Jaden. "Can we make s'mores again?"

Daitokuji stayed silent as he contemplated over the subject on burning another piece of…yeah, it wasn't even close to being acknowledged as literature in his terms. Daitokuji's opinion was official after he read the novel, which he obtained after confiscating it from a girl who was reading during class. What is so damn attractive about an undead man who sparkles in sunlight and watches a girl in her sleep?

"_Feh…teenagers,"_ he thought. "I'll buy a bag of marshmallows and a box of graham crackers from Tome-san and we use any leftover chocolate as material since we're bound to have enough to make s'mores."

Jaden inwardly squealed as she continued to plait Daitokuji's hair, making sure that it wasn't too tight or too loose as she interwove his black hair. She was so going to enjoy setting aflame to that piece of garbage.

"Yuki-kun," said Daitokuji. "How much of the series did you read-nya?"

"Enough to make references and jokes about it," said Jaden. "Cullen brings shame to the name Edward…now I can't tell whether it's Elric or Cullen unless a surname is mentioned."

"_And there's the obligatory _Fullmetal Alchemist_ reference I should've seen coming,"_ thought Daitokuji.

Obviously, because Elric and Cullen share the same first names and the many questions he got during class involving the mention of equivalent exchange…and the mention of a _Twilight_ book… Pretty much, it all added up together…especially since Daitokuji was an alchemy teacher.

"Jaden…what is your average score on your tests-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

"About the same amount I manage to complete before I knockout…why?" asked Jaden.

Daitokuji sighed as he placed on his glasses and adjusted them slightly. He had been correct on one of his earlier inferences about his Osiris Red student. She was actually a smart student, just…she had a problem with staying awake long enough to finish taking a test. Daitokuji made a mental note to talk to Jaden's father involving his daughter's testing abilities…or to trick Jaden into taking an IQ test. Whatever works! (14)

Jaden let out a content sigh as she let go of Daitokuji's braid after tying it with its usual red hair tie. She touched the plaited hair tentatively, nodding once in satisfaction afterward.

"Done," said Jaden.

Daitokuji's hand went straight to his braid as he felt it over before pulling it into his view. After looking it over, Daitokuji turned to Jaden and said, "This better not make me look feminine-nya."

Jaden laughed awkwardly at that comment. She rubbed the back of her head as she look at Daitokuji nervously.

"Um…it's kinda too late for that," said Jaden. "With or without the braid, you still look rather feminine…like pretty boy feminine, not that I'm suggesting anything." (15)

Daitokuji shook his head and patted Jaden on the head.

"Well, you tried," he said. "So, what do you suggest we do now-nya?"

Jaden's stomach growled loudly, causing the brunette to blush. She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head. Daitokuji chuckled as he walked over to the stove.

"Well, I think that's a good suggestion-nya," said Daitokuji. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day-nya. Be a good girl and let Pharaoh in, would you, Jaden?"

Jaden blinked and nodded before making her way towards the door. She opened the door and moved to the side to let Pharaoh walk by.

* * *

Sometime later,

After a rather delicious breakfast involving Daitokuji as the cook and Jaden as the helper, Jaden decided to check up on Daichi. It might have only been seven in the morning, but Jaden needed her clothes and Daichi needed to checked on…or at least, that's what Ayukawa told her to do in the morning.

Jaden sighed as she placed the key into the keyhole and turned it. She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door slowly, not wanting to accidentally wake Daichi up just yet. She peered into the room carefully and gently sighed as she saw Daichi's sleeping figure in her bed. He was still asleep.

"_Good,"_ thought Jaden.

Jaden didn't want to pull another stunt like yesterday and wake up Daichi from his sleep…especially in his condition. So she carefully entered the room and quietly closed the door behind her. She then took off her shoes and set them down by Daichi's in her room's entryway and made her way towards her dresser. Every few moments or so, Jaden would look back at Daichi to make sure he was asleep before continuing on to what she was doing.

Once she had obtained her change of clothes from her dresser, Jaden walked towards the door leading into her bathhouse. She stopped in front of the door and looked back at Daichi once more before entering the bathhouse. After a few minutes, Jaden exited the bathhouse, having just finished changing her clothes.

Today's choice was just a simple white T-shirt with a pair of red shorts! It was simple, but not too simple…just the right type of clothing to cook in! Jaden tied her white bandanna into her hair and then clipped it into place afterwards with a black clip. After taking a quick look in the mirror inside the bathhouse, Jaden nodded and turned to Daichi. He was still asleep…

Jaden sighed in relief and walked over to small dresser at Daichi's bedside. Unlike her other dresser, the smaller one was used for storing miscellaneous items and her cards. At the top of the small dresser, were an alarm clock and a blue bowl filled midway with water. Jaden picked up the bowl and walked away from the dresser with the bowl in her arms.

Moments later,

Jaden carefully set the bowl on the bedside dresser, having just changed the water with a fresher batch. She then turned to Daichi and reached over for the white washcloth on his forehead. Jaden hesitant at first to grab the washcloth, but she managed in the end, all without waking up Daichi. Sighing in relief, Jaden submerged the washcloth into the water inside the bowl.

She waited a few seconds before taking the washcloth out and wringing it a few times so it wasn't dripping wet, just damp. Afterwards, Jaden gently placed the washcloth back on Daichi's forehead. Her breathe hitched when she saw the Ra Yellow's eyes open.

"_Great, he's awake,"_ thought Jaden.

Daichi groaned a bit and sat up in bed. He rubbed his eyes and blinked when he felt the washcloth on his forehead fall onto his lap. He stared at it for a few seconds before turning to Jaden. He arched his brow at her in question, most likely from wonder as to why Jaden was in the room. Aside from that…

So much for keeping Daichi asleep…that was a fail. So what now?

**DOT DOT DOT…**

Jaden sweat dropped from the tension that was currently building up from the awkward silence going on between her and Daichi. A full minute had passed and the tension was still building up. Another minute had passed before Daichi finally broke the silence.

"Mom?" he said drowsily.

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she fully realized what just happened. Daichi mistook his friend for his own mother…how could that even—

"_Oh, right…he has a fever,"_ thought Jaden.

It took Daichi a full minute for him to realize that Jaden wasn't his mother.

"Oh, Ichiban-kun," said Daichi. "What're you doing here?"

Jaden laughed nervously as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. Well, Daichi's back to his senses.

"I'm just helping Ayukawa-sensei out," said Jaden. "She told me to check up on you and I did. Hey, are you hungry?"

Daichi blinked a few times at Jaden before his face suddenly turned red from embarrassment. He had just remembered what he called the Osiris Red a few minutes ago. This was certainly awkward… Daichi turned away from Jaden to hide his red face.

"Uh…sorry about that," said Daichi. "I didn't mean…"

Jaden shook her head and waved it off.

"Don't worry about that!" said Jaden. "It was an honest mistake! You just woke up and…hold on, let me get the thermometer."

Few moments later,

Daichi diverted his eyes to the side as Jaden watched him closely, having just placed the thermometer into Daichi's mouth. This was rather demeaning in a sense to the Ra Yellow as his gender-mistaken friend was the one taking care of him. It was also awkward for him as memory of his dream from a few hours ago popped up into mind.

A small beeping noise snapped Daichi out of his thoughts as Jaden's hand reached over and took the thermometer out of his mouth. Jaden held the thermometer up to her face to check on the number.

"Well, you're still in the fever range," said Jaden. "I'm gonna call Ayukawa-sensei, so in the meantime…just try to go back to sleep, okay?"

Daichi just nodded once and lied back down in bed. He blinked as Jaden placed the washcloth back on his head.

"Well…be seeing you!" said Jaden. "Pleasant dreams!"

Jaden made a few adjustments to the blankets covering Daichi before finally making her way out of the room. Daichi waited a few seconds until he was sure Jaden was out of the room before letting out a mushroom sigh. That…was just too awkward. Daichi closed his eyes and sighed as he tried to force himself to fall asleep.

* * *

Sometime later in the kitchen,

Daitokuji stared questioningly at the sight that lay before him, having just entered the kitchen. Jaden was currently by the sink, washing rice in a bowl by using her hand to swish it around. She continued doing this for a few minutes before tilting the bowl carefully to the side to pour out the water. Afterwards, Jaden placed the bowl under the tap and turned the water on to refill the bowl with water. She continued to repeat her actions again for a few minutes before finally pouring the rice into a saucepan filled with water.

Jaden walked over to stove and place the saucepan on the stovetop. She sighed after a few moments and turned around, blinking when she saw Daitokuji.

"How long have you been there?" she asked.

"The whole time you were doing…what were you doing-nya?" asked Daitokuji.

Jaden twiddled her fingers around as she said, "Cooking okayu for Misawa…" (16)

Daitokuji stared at Jaden for a few seconds before he walked over to her. He smiled at his female Osiris Red student and patted her gently on the head.

"You're a good friend-nya," said Daitokuji.

Jaden blinked once and smiled. "Thanks! Now…let's duel!"

Daitokuji sighed and reached into his pocket.

"Very well-nya," he said.

One hour later,

Jaden sighed as she stirred the okayu with a pair of chopsticks. She felt rather satisfied to know that she finally manage to defeat Daitokuji in a duel…though just barely. It took a lot of strategy…and a lot of luck. Jaden wonder again how she actually managed to defeat Daitokuji with a lone Hero Kid.

"Aw, well, that's all in the past," Jaden said, turning off the stove. "Now where that salt…?"

A small shaker of salt was held up in front of Jaden's face the second she asked. Jaden blinked and turned to the side to see Ayukawa standing right next to her.

"You called?" asked Ayukawa.

Jaden nodded and took the shaker from Ayukawa.

"Yeah, I did," said Jaden. "It's about Misawa…Hold on one second…"

Jaden added some salt into the okayu and stirred it in a few times. Afterwards, Jaden grabbed a bowl set on the counter and poured in a decent amount of okayu into the bowl. Jaden turned to Ayukawa and gave her the bowl and a spoon.

"While you check up on Misawa, give him that," said Jaden. "He oughta be hungry by now."

Ayukawa blinked a few times and nodded before making her way out of the kitchen. Jaden sighed and crossed her arms.

"So…what to do now?" she asked herself. "Oh right…the backup chocolate."

And with that, Jaden walked over to the cupboard next to the dishes to get the cocoa powder.

A few moments later,

Jaden sighed as she stirred the cocoa, milk, and sugar together. She really didn't want to do this, but it was better safe than sorry since she really didn't want any blackmail on her. Well, she was only giving out chocolates to her friends and—

"_Wait…Reizo and Taniguchi,"_ thought Jaden.

Jaden's eye twitched at the mere thought of those two goons. Dear Ra, how could she forget them? How was she going to avoid those two? Crap…now that made two others that she had to give chocolate out to, whether she wanted to or not. If it was to get those two off her case, then she'd do it.

"I hate this…" she muttered.

Jaden didn't realize that she sped up her stirring until she managed to flick some of the chocolate onto her cheek. She blinked a few times and shrugged as she went back to stirring, albeit a bit slower. After a bit more stirring, Jaden added in the vanilla extract and then went back to mixing the chocolate.

Ten minutes had passed and Jaden finally managed to make use of some of the molds she was given yesterday at Tome's store. She poured in some of the chocolate into a Steam Gyroid mold and then into a Master of Oz mold. Afterwards, Jaden settled with making use of the rest of the chocolate by just pouring it into a pan. She used a dough scraper to smooth out the chocolate's surface before covering the pan with plastic wrap.

Jaden picked up the pan and walked over to the refrigerator. She opened the refrigerator and set the pan in before closing it. Now all she had to do was let the chocolate harden…

"Well, there goes my last portion of entertainment," said Jaden.

Jaden diverted her eyes on the clock and looked at the chocolate that was currently refining in the melanger.

"It has been at least ten hours…time to get Daitokuji-sensei," said Jaden.

Moments after getting the professor out of his room and into the kitchen, Jaden found out that everything after the refining was slightly easier work.

"Now how many pounds of chocolate did we make?" asked Jaden.

"I really don't know-nya," said Daitokuji. "The tempering machine says that its maximum capacity is 10 pounds…"

Jaden brought her fist into the palm of her hand.

"I think this may work," said Jaden. "After this…we're done with the process and that only leaves the molds and cooling. A little help, Daitokuji-sensei?"

Daitokuji nodded and walked over to the melanger to turn off the machine. Jaden walked up to Daitokuji with a bowl in her arms. After a bit of maneuvering, the two managed to transfer the chocolate over from the melanger to the bowl. Jaden then walked over to the tempering machine to pour the chocolate into the bowl.

After a quick read-through of the directions, Daitokuji walked over to the tempering machine and turned it on. He pressed in the set temperature mentioned in the directions and after that, he turned to Jaden.

"Well, we got an hour or two to kill-nya," said Daitokuji. "Dueling is out of the question until later today."

"Aww…" said Jaden.

"So what do you suggest we do for now?" asked Daitokuji.

Jaden crossed her arms and placed her hand on her chin. After a full minute of think, Jaden snapped her fingers and looked at Daitokuji.

"I got _Melee_ and the game console for it in my room!" said Jaden. "It's got a multiplayer mode and what's more, is that I have a second controller. What do you say?"

Daitokuji stayed silent for a moment before replying, "Let's do it-nya."

Jaden smiled and dashed out of the kitchen, making her way towards her room.

Moments later,

Jaden made sure to close the door gently behind her as she carried with her a duffle bag (that she found out she had a few minutes ago) and the empty bowl she found on the dresser on Daichi's bedside (as long as Daichi's using her bed, it's his bed). After that, Jaden ran down the stairs and make a quick trip to the kitchen to drop off the bowl in the sink before finally making her way to Daitokuji's room.

…

"FALCON PUNCH!" exclaimed an in-game character.

"Dammit, you knocked me out!" said Jaden. "Ness, how could you lose?"

Daitokuji laughed as he adjusted his glasses. He had to hand it to Jaden, she was really skilled at this game…but that didn't mean he wasn't as well. Even though this pretty much was his first time playing, Daitokuji wasn't one to start a game without first reading the manual. And that is how he made his own strategy in the past fifteen minutes.

"I want a rematch!" said Jaden. "This time…I'm choosing Samus—actually…never mind! I choose Link!"

Jaden bit her lip as she moved the analog stick with her thumb to choose said character.

"And I think I will choose…Kirby," said Daitokuji.

"Great, you're choosing the pink puffball to fight me…" said Jaden. "I already feel screwed."

Daitokuji turned to Jaden.

"No need for sarcasm-nya," said Daitokuji.

Jaden blinked and looked at Daitokuji.

"I was serious," said Jaden. "I actually do feel screwed."

Daitokuji stared at Jaden and sighed as he patted her reassuringly on the head.

"Just have fun," said Daitokuji.

Jaden nodded and said, "Okay!"

Later that day,

Daitokuji walked into the kitchen to check up on Jaden, who had left his room sometime ago to finish packing the chocolate into small boxes. She said she would be back, but…it's been nearly three hours since she left, so Jaden had him worried a bit.

"Please don't tell me she made a mess…" thought Daitokuji.

Oh, she didn't…because when Daitokuji found Jaden…she was asleep at the table with at least thirteen small gift bags surrounding her. Jaden blacked out after packing box thirteen with chocolate cubes, which at that time, she took a small break to rest up…and that is how she ended up asleep.

It was hard work for the Osiris Red to fill in the bags with the chocolate after spending some time counting how much chocolate she had. After that, she had to make sure she placed in an equal amount of chocolate into each small decorative box (courtesy of Junko and Momoe). Following that motion, was the fact that Jaden had to be extra careful with the Duel Monsters molded chocolate as she wrapped them up in tinfoil (once again, courtesy of Junko and Momoe), which afterwards, she placed them in a gift bag (also, courtesy of Junko and Momoe) along with the boxes filled with chocolate. By that time, it wasn't really hard work…just tedious. So it wasn't much of a surprise that Jaden fell asleep at the table.

Daitokuji just stared at his sleeping student and sighed, shaking his head afterwards as he walked over to Jaden.

"Yuki-kun…you're going to catch a cold like that," he said softly.

Three hours later,

Jaden was roused from her sleep from the soft crinkling sound made from her face's close proximity to one of the gift bag's tissue paper in front of her. She slowly opened her eyes and closed them before opening them again once more. She lifted her head off the table and looked around herself with half-lidded eyes, stretching her arms afterwards as she yawned. She froze and blinked a few times as she felt a small weight covering her shoulders.

Jaden looked at her shoulders and blinked when she saw a black jacket covering them. After regaining much of her senses and recollecting her thoughts, Jaden remembered what she was previously doing before she fell asleep. She turned and looked at the clock, mentally cursing when she saw the hour.

"It's already morning?" she said sluggishly. "Damn, I was really out…well, I better get a move on finishing packing those chocolates or else—

Jaden blinked and stared at the boxes of chocolate in front of her on the table, perplexed. That's strange…she remembered only packing thirteen boxes, but…there were at least eight more boxes packed and set aside, inside their separate gift bag.

"_Who could've done this?"_ Jaden thought as she picked up a gift bag.

Pharaoh's meowing caused Jaden to snap out of her thoughts as her head turned to the tabby cat, who was currently pawing at the door. Jaden blinked a few times as she put one and one together, coming to a conclusion as to whose jacket it was that was on her shoulders and who helped her finished packing the rest of the chocolate. She smiled as she stood up and got out of her seat to walk over to the door.

"Daitokuji-sensei…" she said as she opened the door for Pharaoh.

Jaden moved aside to let Pharaoh out. She then peered out the doorway to watch Pharaoh make his way towards his owner's room. Jaden sighed and closed the door after a few moments to make her way towards the stove. She might as well make it up to Daitokuji by making breakfast for him, during which, she was also going to make more okayu for Daichi. As for her…well, she could wait as she was most likely going to be picked up by Junko and Momoe in…

Jaden glanced at the clock as she washed the rice.

"_I have at least two hours…that's enough time,"_ she thought.

One hour later,

Jaden chopped a spring green onion and added some to three bowls of miso soup. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked over to the coffee maker, grabbing a nearby mug to pour the freshly made coffee into it.

"This feels just like home…" said Jaden.

All she needed was her father here to fit the role of drinking coffee and the whole nostalgic feeling was set. Thankfully, he wasn't here or else he would be fussing over how Jaden left him out of the process of making breakfast. Making breakfast at the Yuki residence was a father-daughter routine they usually did every morning…until a few months ago when Jaden entered Duel Academy.

"I wonder how he's doing without me?" Jaden wonder aloud.

Jaden shrugged as she stirred in a few spoonfuls of sugar and cream into the coffee before making her way back to the three bowls of miso soup. The bowls of miso soup were set upon two separate trays, one of which Jaden set the mug of coffee on. After that, Jaden grabbed a bowl from the dishes and walked over to the saucepan with okayu and egg.

Moments later after paying a visit to Daitokuji's room, which was accessible since the professor left his keys in his jacket, Jaden paid her roommates a visit and secretly left the tray with two bowls of miso soup for them on the desk as they slept. Afterwards, Jaden made one more trip to her room to check on Daichi one more time and while at it, to leave his bowl of okayu.

Minutes later, Jaden walked out of her room, closing the door behind her as she left. She closed her eyes and sighed and she was about ready to walk away when she stopped. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face as she came face to face (literally) with Momoe. Momoe blinked at Jaden and looked over the brunette, smiling and squealing afterwards as she pulled Jaden closed to herself and hugged her.

"Aww, you look so cute!" said Momoe.

Jaden flailed her arms around as she struggled to get out of Momoe's grip. Not long after Momoe's appearance did Junko come walking up to them. Junko took one look at Jaden and smirked.

"You look adorable…what's the occasion?" asked Junko.

Jaden managed to push Momoe away and turned to Junko.

"Shh!" hissed Jaden. "Misawa's still asleep."

Momoe blinked and looked perplexed at Jaden.

"Why is Misawa-kun in your room?" asked Momoe.

Jaden rubbed the back of her head and diverted her eyes on Junko.

"It's not like that," said Jaden. "Misawa's kinda my responsibility while he's sick with a cold…"

"He caught a cold…and you're taking care of him?" asked Momoe. "That's so sweet!"

Jaden growled and clapped her hands together.

"Subject change!" said Jaden.

Junko crossed her arms and nodded.

"So…did you make the chocolate?" she asked.

Jaden blinked and nodded as she replied, "Actually, yes…I did."

Jaden scowled at the surprised looks on Junko and Momoe's faces.

"Oh, you guys are horrible," said Jaden. "It's not like I can't cook…well, I did had help from Daitokuji-sensei to make the chocolate, but that's beside the point. Anyways, I made breakfast, so if you'd like some miso soup, I think I can make some more—"

Junko cut Jaden off as the rufous-haired girl grabbed onto the brunette's arm.

"That's okay, we already ate," said Junko. "Now let's go get your chocolate so we can take you back to the Obelisk Blue dorms. We just got the most perfect outfit for you to wear."

Jaden narrowed her eyes and let out an aggravated sigh as she sweat dropped.

"Agh…" she said. "Hold on…where's Asuka?"

Momoe held up her index finger and replied, "She's back at the dorm finishing packing the last of her chocolates!"

* * *

Meanwhile in the Obelisk Blue kitchen,

Asuka was currently glaring at her somewhat unpleasant looking chocolate.

"How the heck did these end up like this?" asked Asuka.

About most of her chocolate came out perfect…except for this batch. Maybe it would've helped that she forgot to smooth down the chocolate's lumpy state after just pouring it into the pan, but she was tired! At least they still tasted the same…at least she thought they did. Eh, she'll give them to her most unfavorable admirers seeing as that might just get them off her case. Asuka gave a small smile at that thought as she began to pack the chocolate into the box.

* * *

Two hours later,

Jaden looked at herself in the mirror, arching her brow at the sight of her reflection. After paying the bathhouse a visit and by visit, she meant being dragged against her will by Junko and Momoe. Anyhow, Jaden found herself dressed in a rather familiar looking blue and white dress with a red camisole underneath…said camisole had padding, much to Jaden's dislike.

Jaden prodded at the padding on her chest a few times with her index finger, stopping only when she felt a brush running through her hair. She looked at the mirror and narrowed her eyes when she saw that it was Momoe. Momoe stopped to wave at her before going back to brushing the brunette's hair.

"Don't mind me!" said Momoe. "I'm just making you look beautiful!"

Jaden didn't like that because…she usually ended up bumping into Reizo and Taniguchi in this state. Ah, well, as long as she had her pseudonym, Judai, she had nothing to worry about…right?

_"That's it!" _thought Jaden. "This dress reminds me of Aerith's dress from _Crisis Core_!"

"It took you that long to figure that out, Jaden-kun, did it?" asked Junko.

Jaden diverted her eyes at Junko, who was currently sitting on Asuka's bed.

"Shut up," said Jaden. "Though…how did you know?"

Junko closed her eyes and grinned as she replied, "It's called Google search engine…you find a lot of information and pictures, there."

Jaden felt stupid at that painfully obvious answer…at least she _thought_ it was obvious. Jaden snapped out of her thoughts when she realized that Momoe was clipping something into her hair. After a few adjustments the raven-haired girl made to Jaden's hair, in which a pink ribbon was tied into it, Momoe backed away and clasped her hands together as she looked over Jaden.

"This look suits you!" said Momoe. "Junko-san, get the makeup!"

As Junko stood up and walked over to the door to go to her room to get her makeup kit, Jaden looked at herself in the mirror to see what Momoe clipped into her hair. Jaden blinked a few times as she noticed an extension added to the back of her hair in the shape of a brunette braid. She grasped the plaited hair gently and felt the soft hair interwoven into the braid.

"That's real hair, Jaden-kun," said Momoe.

As much as Jaden would be disturbed at that fact, she wasn't. Jaden was actually impressed with the braid as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"So this is how I would've looked like if I still had long hair…" said Jaden.

Momoe looked at Jaden perplexed.

"You had long hair?" she asked. "What happened?"

Jaden crossed her arms and exhaled a small puff of air.

"Some boys in my second grade class brought scissors near my hair," said Jaden. "And ever since then, I decided to keep my hair short…I don't want another incident like that. Tch, bullies…"

Momoe stared at Jaden before walking closer to the brunette. She then grabbed a hold of the Osiris Red's shoulders and said, "Tell me about these bullies of yours…you never mentioned you were bullied…but that does explain your self-defense techniques."

One small story about Jaden's bullying experience later,

"And they still don't know?" exclaimed Momoe.

Jaden shook her head, earning a rather shocked gasped from Momoe.

"Well, it's all in the past," said Jaden. "I now know how to defend myself, so don't worry!"

And at that moment, Junko walked into the room with her makeup kit.

"Okay, I'm back," said Junko.

Jaden blinked a few times and backed away as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face. She looked around for Asuka and wonder where the dark-blonde was.

"Where's Asuka?" she asked.

"Oh, she left to go give out her chocolate," said Junko.

Because for Asuka, the sooner she gave out her chocolate, the sooner she can go back to her room and lock herself in where she would later confide her experience with Ryou to see how he was doing. After many conversations with each other, they found out they pretty much had a similar experience on Valentine's Day, the only difference was that Asuka was doing the giving and Ryou was doing the receiving…from multiple girls. Moving on!

* * *

Half an hour later,

Jaden glared at the white sandals she was given to wear. It was rather difficult to move around too fast with sandals that's only holding was a single pink strap. At least they weren't wedged sandals like the ones this dress was supposed to have…not that she was complaining or anything! She sighed and looked at the bag in her right hand, in which held the boxes of chocolates she packed yesterday.

"Okay…who's first?" said Jaden.

It was only about…twenty past ten, so if memory recalled, the Tennis Club Captain was usually about at the courts at this time of day on a Sunday. Jaden nodded and decided that her first receiver would be Mitsuru Ayanokouji…it's been about three days since she last spoke to the guy, so this might be awkward, but the Captain was pretty much used to seeing Jaden all "dolled up" (as he would usually say every time Jaden walked by the Obelisk Blue campus after leaving the girl's dorm), so all was good.

Though that didn't mean Ayanokouji wasn't surprised to see Jaden in this state out at the tennis courts at this time of the day on a Sunday. Ayanokouji just stared at Jaden as the brunette walked up to him. He was perplexed as to why she was here and was even more confused when she reached into the pink bag she held in her right hand.

"Jaden-kun, what are you—" Ayanokouji was cut off by Jaden as she corrected him.

"It's Judai," she said. "When I'm like this…call me Judai because I want to avoid these two Obelisk Blues named Taniguchi and Reizo."

Ayanokouji blinked a few times before nodding.

"Oh, those two…I understand, Judai-kun," said Ayanokouji. "So…you're Judai-kun?"

Jaden sighed and nodded reluctantly as she pulled out a small gift bag.

"Unfortunately…yes," said Jaden. "By the way, here's your chocolate and…sorry about our first meeting, I never meant to give you quite a nasty shock."

Ayanokouji stared at the bag held out to him by Jaden. He stared at it for a full minute before accepting the bag.

"Um…it doesn't really matter, now," said Ayanokouji. "It's all in the past now…and let me tell you something. Ever since I met you…I've actually done better at dueling…I actually like it now…so, thank you."

Jaden looked at Ayanokouji and smiled at him, causing the Tennis Club Captain to blush. Even though Ayanokouji pretty much only saw Jaden as a friend (or so he thought so far…), the Osiris Red still managed to make him blush with that smile of hers.

"You're welcome!" said Jaden. "And think of this as my first gift to you as a friend! So…see ya around?"

Ayanokouji blinked and nodded at Jaden as he gave her his dazzling trademark smile.

"See ya around," he said.

Jaden sweat dropped at Ayanokouji's smile and gave the Obelisk Blue a light shove.

"Show off!" she said.

Ayanokouji laughed at Jaden, to which the brunette soon laughed along as well. They still got it!

Later,

Jaden couldn't find Ryou around Obelisk Blue campus yet, so she decided to take a detour into Ra Yellow territory…too bad one of her most hated Obelisk Blue guys who she had the worst experience, bumped into her. Luckily for her, it wasn't Reizo or Taniguchi, but it was someone she managed to break their nose during a small scuffle…

"Agh!" exclaimed Shuichi.

Jaden didn't give any reaction to bumping into Shuichi as by now, she was used to bumping into people. However, she was slightly nervous around the Obelisk Blue as she was currently in "Judai" form. And the fact that Shuichi's goons were with him just made her slightly even more nervous…_slightly_!

Shuichi looked down at who he bumped into, scowling as he saw Jaden.

"What where you're—" Shuichi trailed off as he got a good look at who he bumped into.

It was a girl…a rather pretty-looking girl with long hair in a braid, to add. And she seemed rather nervous as she clutched onto the pink bag she held in her arms. Tadao grabbed the bag out of the girl's arms and looked over it.

"What's in the bag, girly?" he asked.

The girl's eyes immediately flashed with anger as she tightened her fists.

"Hey!" she snapped. "Give that back or else!"

Tadao looked at the girl with an amused look in his eyes.

"Or else what?" he asked.

THUD!

Tadao fell onto the ground after receiving a rather hard kick in the stomach from the girl. The girl nodded once in satisfaction and took back her bag from Tadao's hand. Jin and Shigeru immediately rushed over to Tadao's side as the girl just walked up to Shuichi and begrudgingly handed him a black box.

"Here!" she said distastefully shoving the box into Shuichi's hands. "An apology for that mishap…I'll be going now…hmph!"

Jaden turned and walked away…only to have a hand grab onto her wrist by the guy she just finished giving a box of chocolates to.

"Hold on…what's your name?" asked Shuichi.

Jaden glared at Shuichi and pulled her hand out of his grip as she answered, "It's Judai!"

Shuichi looked at the girl, amused with her reaction as he decided to tell her his name. "I'm Shuichi—"

Judai waved it off as she quickly replied, "Don't care, goodbye!"

And with that, Judai left the Obelisk Blue, who was currently feeling rather weird from his encounter with the girl.

Sometime later,

Jaden walked around Ra Yellow campus, looking for one of her four favorite Ra Yellows. She ended up bumping into her wannabe look-alike, Kagurazaka. Kagurazaka stared strangely at Jaden, shocked at the fact that the girl he accidentally felt up could actually look this—this!

"Pretty!" he suddenly found himself saying.

Jaden stared at Kagurazaka agape as she reached into her bag. She stayed still as she stared at Kagurazaka, who was currently covering his mouth with his hands as his face turned red.

"_Friggin' hormones!"_ thought Kagurazaka. (17)

Jaden, after recovering from the shock Kagurazaka's outburst gave her, reached into her bag and pulled out a small gift bag.

"Anyways…here's your chocolate," said Jaden. "As much as I don't appreciate you trying to act like me…I still see you as a friend, so I'm not counting you out of my list of friends who receive chocolates."

Kagurazaka blinked a few times and took the box from Jaden.

"Uh, thank you!" Kagurazaka said, bowing apologetically at Jaden afterwards. "So sorry about that outburst!"

Jaden closed her eyes and waved it off.

"Don't worry, I'm actually used to it after spending time with Junko and Momoe," Jaden reassured. "So how's your originality coming into play?"

Kagurazaka scratched the back of his head as he replied shyly, "Somewhat better…"

Jaden smiled at Kagurazaka and patted the Ra Yellow on the shoulder.

"Good!" she said. "So…have you seen Ohara and Kohara anywhere?"

"They're by the tree near the fountain," said Kagurazaka.

Jaden's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "This place has a fountain?"

Kagurazaka sweat dropped as he replied, "Uh…yeah, it does, surprisingly since you'd think Obelisk Blue would be the only one with a fountain. Anyways, the fountain is in the center of campus, just keep walking straight ahead on this path and you can't miss it."

Jaden nodded and smiled at Kagurazaka as she waved at him.

"Thank you!" she said. "See ya around!"

Kagurazaka nodded and waved back somewhat nervously. And so marked another boy off Jaden's list…

Minutes later,

Kohara was in the middle of a duel with an Obelisk Blue who had a knack at drawing cards. How Kohara managed to get the Obelisk Blue to agree to duel with him was beyond the green-haired boy's knowledge, but it didn't matter! As long as he had someone to help him get out of his shell during dueling, nothing can go—

"Hey!" exclaimed Jaden. "So that's where you went, Taizan!"

Kohara turned and nearly dropped his hand as he saw Jaden walked into view. His face turned red at the mere sight of Jaden in that outfit. He had never seen Jaden this…this…

Kohara shook his head as he tried to eject all thoughts about Jaden out of his head aside from the fact the Osiris Red was his friend.

Meanwhile with Ohara…he was inwardly laughing at his friend's reaction to Jaden's current state of appearance. He had to admit, the girl did clean up nicely and he could see why his friend had a small crush on her.

As for Taizan…he was having a hard time believing that that was the same girl who told him that he looked better with long hair, had a somewhat long rivalry in the Golden Egg bread with him and Tenjoin-kun, and also the same girl whose bra he accidentally saw when her shirt got wet with water. One wouldn't blame him as he recalled that his Osiris Red friend/Golden Egg bread rival was a short-haired girl with a flat-chest…not that he wasn't looking or anything on that last part! This girl, on the other hand, had long hair in a braid with a rather decent chest-size to suit her figure…once again, he wasn't looking! Honest!

Taizan shook his head as he and Kohara decided to pause their duel for the moment to see what was up with their friend's sudden visit. And after once small conversation involving how the Ra Yellows and Obelisk Blue managed to know Jaden, said Osiris Red reached into her bag and handed each of her three friends a gift bag.

"As you already know, it's Valentine's Day," said Jaden. "And this…is my first gift to you guys as friends…and also a gift of apology giving you a rather nasty surprise about my gender."

Kohara was the first to speak after getting over his shock…surprisingly. Though he felt a bit down that Jaden saw him as a friend, it didn't matter as being a friend was better than nothing!

"Thank you, Jaden-kun," said Kohara. "I'm not as shy as I was before…I even managed to challenge Taizan-kun, here!"

Taizan, who had been aware of Kohara's shyness in dueling during the conversation a minutes ago, nodded as he said, "Yeah, he hasn't hesitated or anything during our duel."

Jaden smiled widely at Kohara and Taizan as she said, "I'm glad!"

Ohara placed his hand on Jaden's shoulder, to which the brunette turned to look at the big-heighted Ra Yellow.

"And I'm glad Kohara-kun met you," said Ohara. "He would've never gotten out of that phase had it not been for you…thank you."

Jaden blinked and smiled at Ohara.

"No problem!" she said. "Now do me a favor and if you guys ever see me again in this state…call me Judai. I have these two guys on my case and they're rather annoying…speaking of them, I haven't managed to bump into them yet. Something isn't right…anyways, see ya around, guys! And Taizan…our challenge is still on! Asuka isn't giving up any time, soon, and neither am I!"

Taizan and Jaden gave each other a quick stare down before the two finally managed to wave at each other as Jaden turned to leave. Three boys down…time to go leave some gifts to Samejima and Professor Chronos…yes, Jaden counted the guy as her friend, despite his attitude towards her. She knew he meant no harm (and by that, she was oblivious to the obvious actions from him), she decided to give him a box of chocolates as well after hearing Tome mention that Chronos rarely got chocolate…Jaden felt like today she'd make his day a brighter one by paying a visit to his office.

It was empty…so Jaden decided to leave a gift bag on his desk and wrote a small note for the blond-haired professor when he came back. She hoped he enjoyed the chocolate because she really had no idea how it tasted…what? She wasn't one to make sure food was right until she was eating it herself. Call that a reckless move, she didn't really care since food was food…at least in her opinion.

Samejima wasn't at least a bit surprised to see Jaden, seeing as Tome was known for sharing every bit of information on certain students in her photo album. Samejima saw every picture of Jaden and even was told of her alias, Judai, so when he saw Jaden walk into his office, all he did was smile.

"Good afternoon, Yuki-kun," said Samejima. "How has your day been?"

Jaden pulled out a gift bag from her bag and handed it to Samejima after stopping in front of his desk. Samejima accepted the gift bag and began to look into it.

"Good so far…" said Jaden. "Still haven't run into those two idiots I hate."

"The same two who are the reason for 'Judai'?" asked Samejima.

Jaden nodded and waved at Samejima before turning around.

"Well, gotta go," said Jaden. "Hope you like the chocolates!"

"See you around, Judai-kun," Samejima said, winking at the Osiris Red.

Jaden nodded and made her way out of Samejima's office. Half an hour later, Samejima received a visit from Professor Chronos involving the box of chocolates inside the gift bag left in his room. After being reassured by Samejima that the chocolates were not poisoned, Professor Chronos decided to try a chocolate himself.

Later,

On the way of going back to her dorm to pay her roommates a visit, Jaden bumped into Asuka, who looked rather like her at the moment…only less happy. Unlike Jaden, Asuka had guys she didn't like with a passion and the only guy friends she could confide in were Ryou, Hayato, Shou…Ryou…Ryou was actually on her top list of guys she could confide in (her own brother was nowhere near close unless this was something _waaay_ personal).

Anyways, after a quick conversation, both girls were rather satisfied to know that they weren't alone in what they were currently doing today on Valentine's Day.

"Well, I'll be seeing you tomorrow in class," said Asuka. "Unless Junko and Momoe make that otherwise…till then, see ya around!"

Jaden nodded and waved at Asuka as the brunette continued on her way back to the dorm. And of course, the first guy to notice her appearance when she entered her room was Hayato. So when she opened the door, she wasn't really much surprised to hear:

"Flat-chest, you never cease to amaze me with your transformations," said Hayato. "How's it going?"

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Hayato as she closed the door behind her. She took off her shoes and set them down in the entry way before going over to the bunk bed.

"I've been having a rather lucky day, so far," said Jaden. "So…hey, where's Shou?"

"He's with Kaiser Ryou," said Hayato. "And…what's in the bag?"

Jaden blinked and looked at her bag. She nodded and reached into the bag, pulling out a small gift back.

"That's right!" said Jaden. "This is for you…for, you know, being a good friend and all, despite what you usually tell me."

Hayato nodded and accepted the bag as he replied, "You know I see you as a little sister, right?"

"And I see you as an older brother," said Jaden. "So…enjoy your chocolates! I have to pay Misawa a visit…that's if he hasn't left, yet."

Jaden waved at Hayato and made her way towards the door. After a few moments, Jaden found out that Daichi was still in her room and in fact, he was actually back to his usual self and at the moment, he was looking over at some of her cards he found in her bedside dresser. When Jaden walked up to Daichi, the Ra Yellow was currently looking over one of Jaden's cards for a rather long time. Jaden cleared her throat to catch her friend's attention, which proved effective as the Ra Yellow jolted and focused his attention immediately on Jaden.

"So…which card is that?" asked Jaden.

Jaden didn't even let Daichi answer as she took the card out of his hand to look at it. She blinked and smiled as she looked at Daichi.

"So…you like White Magician Pikeru?" she asked in a slightly teasing tone.

Daichi shook his head and said, "No! I was just…her effect and…"

Jaden waved it off as she reached into her bag to pull out a gift bag. Then, without Daichi noticing, Jaden slipped White Magician Pikeru's card into the gift bag and handed it to the Ra Yellow.

"Today is Valentine's Day," said Jaden. "This is a gift to you from me as a friend and an apology for that first day you found out my true gender. Hope you enjoy the chocolates as I have to go find Shou. Bye!"

Daichi was speechless as he watched Jaden walk out of her room, leaving the Ra Yellow to contemplate over how mature his friend managed to sound…all while giving him chocolate. That was rather sweet of her, especially as he now knew why she was making chocolate. Daichi reached into the gift bag and blinked when he pulled out a card from the bag. He looked it over and blushed slightly as he realized what Jaden just did…she just gave him her White Magician Pikeru. Jaden didn't just give cards out, but the fact that she did to him meant that he was special in a way…or it was just most likely a gift to prove her point that he was, in fact, a dear friend.

"Thank you," Daichi managed to find himself say.

* * *

…

Daitokuji wasn't one bit surprised to find Jaden in the kitchen eating lunch. However, her current appearance did raise a question in mind, but he waved it off as he knew that this was obviously the work of Junko and Momoe.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Daitokuji as she continued to scarf down her rice. She stopped momentarily to let herself chew a bit as she said, "Daitokuji-sensei."

Daitokuji stifled a laugh as he always got a kick out of how Jaden acted while she ate. Jaden set down her bowl of rice and swallowed her mouthful of rice as she reached into her pink bag to pull out a gift bag for Daitokuji. Daitokuji stared at the gift bag in question before realizing that it was meant for him. He accepted the gift bag and looked into it, tilting his head to the side in question as he stared at a card placed inside the bag.

"I thought Water Spirit Aqueria might prove useful to your deck," said Jaden. "Also, that's your Valentine's Gift…thanks for being such a great teacher, sensei."

Daitokuji looked at Jaden and smiled at her as he patted her on the head.

"And thank you for being such a great student-nya," he replied back, earning a smile from Jaden.

* * *

A few hours later,

Jaden sat up from her grassy spot at her secret place on the cliffside with the shady tree. She stretched her arms, having just taken a rather nice nap. She still found no sign of Shou or Ryou…or Reizo and Taniguchi (thank Ra!). She looked around and blinked when she realized how late it was starting to get. Judging from the look of the position of the sun of the sky, it was probably sometime after five.

Yawning, Jaden got off from the ground and dusted herself off, making sure to adjust the skirt on her dress before moving over to the braid in her hair. After that, Jaden nodded and picked up her bag from the ground and began to make her way back to what she was previously doing…looking for Shou and Ryou!

Half an hour later and Jaden finally managed to bump into Shou, who was currently holding a bag full of what seemed to be chocolate in his hand. He looked questioningly at Jaden and took off his glasses to clean the lenses. After putting his glasses back on, Shou looked at Jaden and gasped as he exclaimed, "Aniki!"

Jaden smiled at Shou and held out her arms.

"Shou!" she exclaimed. "Where have you been? I was looking for you everywhere and…by the way, where's your Nii-san? I have to give him something…oh, here you go!"

Jaden reached into her bag and pulled out a gift bag. Shou blinked and took the gift bag with his free hand and looked it over.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well, today's Valentine's Day…you figure it out," said Jaden. "Anyways, this is both a gift for you since I count you as being one of my closest friends next to Hayato…and also an apology for that first time you found out I was a girl."

Jaden blushed slightly as she bowed at Shou apologetically.

"I'm so sorry about that!" said Jaden.

Shou shook his head and stuttered as he said, "T-That's okay, Aniki! And thank you…that's very nice."

Jaden stood up straight and looked at Shou as she asked, "So…where's your Nii-san?"

"Oh, he's headed back to the Obelisk Blue dorms," said Shou. "Why—"

Jaden immediately turned and started running towards the Obelisk Blue dorms.

"Oh, crap!" she exclaimed. "Sorry Shou, but I have to go! See ya in a bit!"

Like hell! Shou reached into his pocket after placing the bag down onto the ground to reach for his PDA. Afterwards, Shou looked at his contact list and selected a number and decided to make the message via video message.

* * *

Meanwhile,

Ryou came to a stop at the entrance of Obelisk Blue Campus as he felt his PDA vibrate in his pocket. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, pressing a button as he watched curiously as to who it was. It was Shou…and he looked rather tired out as he gave the video message.

"_Onii-san!"_ said Shou. _"Aniki's headed your way, so stay put! She looks like she wants to give you something, so try to be nice. Please, Onii-san!"_

End of message…

Ryou stared at his PDA before sighing…he saw that look Shou gave him before the message ended. So that meant he had to wait a bit to see his little brother's surrogate older brother.

* * *

Elsewhere,

Jaden nearly fell forward from running in her sandals…for the fifth time in a row. She scowled at her sandals before finally decided to just take them off, pick them up, and continue making her way towards the Obelisk Blue campus. And at long last, her awaited meeting with her least favorite guys finally happened as she slid to a stop in front of Reizo.

Reizo looked over at Judai and blushed as; once again, his favorite girl looked gorgeous as ever. Judai scowled at him as she reached into her bag to pull out two gift bags. Taniguchi looked at Judai questioningly, wondering how her hair managed to get longer until he realized it was just a hair extension. Even so, Judai was still beautiful…thought at the current moment, Taniguchi wondered what was up with the gift bags Judai was handing them.

Reizo and Taniguchi took the bags from Judai and they were about to ask her a question when not even one second after giving them the bags did Judai continue running on, making her way towards Obelisk Blue Campus. Reizo and Taniguchi looked at each other before looking at the bags Judai handed them. After finding out that it was chocolate that Judai had given them, both Obelisk Blues ran after Judai in an attempt to figure out how she really felt about them.

* * *

A few minutes later,

Ryou looked around, his arms crossed as he waited patiently for Jaden to arrive. He arched his brow as he saw a somewhat familiar face run towards him with a bag in one hand and a pair of sandals in the other. It was only until he got a closer look at the person that he realized that it was Jaden. Out of all the times he's seen Jaden all dressed up, this was the first time he nearly had trouble recognizing her. Still, he knew Jaden was Jaden from the fact that the girl had her shoes in her hand.

Jaden had a habit of taking off any of her shoes that were given to her when it involved dressing up unless they were her usual red shoes. Though, even so, Ryou wondered what was up with his little brother's Aniki as she stopped in front of him, trying to catch her breath.

"Kaiser…I've been looking everywhere for you!" she managed to gasp out.

Ryou looked slightly perplexed at the gender-mistaken girl. Jaden inhaled deeply and the exhaled before she stood up and reached into her bag.

"You the last guy on my list to give out chocolate, to," said Jaden. "So…here you go!"

Ryou blinked at the gift bag held out to him, somewhat stunned with the fact that Jaden was actually giving chocolate to him. So that's what Shou meant…but Ryou thought Jaden wasn't into to—

"Since you're Shou's Nii-san, then I count you as my friend," said Jaden. "Hope you like the chocolates…ugh, I'm exhausted."

Jaden inhaled deeply and then exhaled again as she looked at Ryou once more and smiled. Ryou sighed and looked at the gift bag as he reached into the bag to pull out the box of chocolates. Of course, Jaden still did see him as a friend…good. He had enough girls on his case today…

"So, did you buy these chocolates or make them?" Ryou asked as he opened the box.

Jaden rubbed the back of her head as she said, "I actually made them…with help from Daitokuji-sensei."

Ryou diverted his eyes on Jaden as he began to take a chocolate out of the box. Normally, he would be slightly surprised to see a girl like Jaden actually make anything when it came to cooking, but he was more amused than surprised. Now the current question was…how did the chocolate taste?

"So…how does it taste?" he asked.

Jaden laughed awkwardly as she shyly replied, "Well…I haven't exactly tried them out, yet. I have no clue how they taste, so—"

Jaden bowed apologetically at Ryou.

"I'm so sorry if they taste bad, Kaiser!" she exclaimed.

Ryou arched his brow at Jaden and then looked at the cube of chocolate in his hand. A rather odd idea popped up in mind and if Jaden's chocolates were in fact horrible…he wasn't going to eat them alone. So he decided to do something he might never do again in his whole life again unless it was probably with his younger brother, Shou…

"You want to find out how they taste?" asked Ryou.

Jaden blinked and looked up at Ryou questioningly. Feeling curious as to how her chocolate actually _did_ taste, Jaden nodded as she stood up straight. A small smile crossed Ryou's lips as he raised the cube of chocolate to his mouth and bit off half of it. A few moments after biting off half the chocolate, Ryou brought the other half to Jaden's mouth and plopped it right into her mouth.

Anyone watching within a close range could see what just happened. Said anyone happened to be Reizo and Taniguchi, who were in the bushes. Reizo and Taniguchi were by all means shocked as they just saw the Kaiser bite off half of Judai's chocolates…and give her the other half personally by placing it right into her mouth.

"An indirect kiss!" said Reizo.

Taniguchi slapped his hand over Reizo's mouth as he noticed that they weren't alone.

Damn straight they weren't! Junko and Momoe were right in the bush next to theirs and if those two didn't shut up, Junko would make them shut up! Believe it or not, Junko was actually skilled in defending herself after joining the judo club in her middle school years. Those were some of the fun years of her middle school life…good times.

Shou struggled as Junko and Momoe tightened their grip on him. How did he end up like this? Oh, right! He passed by their bush with the intent of walking up to his Onii-san and Aniki…only to be pulled in right with them and restrained. He diverted his eyes on Junko, who was the one responsible for covering his mouth.

Junko glared at Shou as she was very well aware that he wasn't too happy with what his brother just did to Jaden, but that didn't mean she wasn't just going to let him go. He'll ruin the moment! Momoe was quickly taking quick pictures with her miniature camera, which she usually kept on her since it was a bit of a habit she kept long after she departed from the photography club in middle school.

* * *

Back with our Osiris Red and Obelisk Blue,

Jaden blinked a few times as she felt Ryou's finger on her lips before the Kaiser removed them as he began to contemplate over the taste of Jaden's chocolate. Jaden, after getting over her slight shock, started chewing on the chocolate in her mouth, exclaiming happily afterwards that she managed to get it to taste right.

Ryou just looked at Jaden as he plopped another chocolate into his mouth. Jaden wasn't really that bad of a chocolate maker…in fact, this was probably the only chocolate he'd eat out in public with the risk of Duel Academy's female population seeing. For all it was worth, knowing that Jaden wasn't much into him, was his brother's surrogate brother, and the fact that she pretty much acknowledged him as a duelist (like he did with her), it was all worthwhile. Take that, overbearing lovesick girls!

* * *

Back in the bushes with Junko and Momoe (and Shou),

Junko and Momoe giggled quietly as they watched Ryou eat the rest of Jaden's chocolates. He was definitely not eating them out of pity…Ryou didn't pity people…especially people like Jaden, because Shou would scorn him forever more from that day on. As for Shou…he was just released by the two Obelisk Blue girls since they trusted him up to this point to stay put and stay quiet.

Shou was crying a bit on the inside, but that was only because he just found out Jaden gave him her Thunder Nyan Nyan…and she rarely gave cards out to people. That was so sweet of her…

"Aniki…" Shou said quietly. _"I will treasure this card!"_

* * *

Meanwhile with Reizo and Taniguchi,

The two managed to get along rather well, having just seen the girl of their dreams (well, really Reizo's since Taniguchi only saw Judai as a potential girlfriend/just friend, anything else was pushing it) given an indirect kiss by the Kaiser…in fact, they were impressed with how calm and collected Ryou was! Oh, how they wish they could be as cool as him…

Tears of admiration flowed down Taniguchi's cheeks as he held up his tightened fist.

"_Kaiser Ryou is a man among men!"_ thought Taniguchi. _"Leave it to him to pull off a move like that!"_

And not get hurt in the process, like Reizo would usually do. Reizo was also impressed…however, it did pained him to see Ryou give Judai an indirect kiss as, depending on whether or not Judai has kissed a guy before, that…right there, would've counted as Judai's first kiss (depending on which way you looked at it). Might as well also counted as Ryou's, but since the guy was popular with the girls, who's to say he hasn't been kissed?

Ryou hasn't since from the first time girls started discovering how attractive he was and started crushing on him, which in turn caused Ryou to discover that girls could be easily hurt emotionally…wasn't his fault he wasn't interested in girls or anything involving a relationship. So all in all, Ryou has never been kissed, in a relationship with a girl (or a boy, which means it's questionable whether or not he swings that way), and the only girl he managed to acknowledge as a full-fledged duelist (aside from Asuka), was Jaden, despite her boyish appearance.

So overall, Asuka and Jaden were the _only_ two girls he was able to talk casually with without having to worry about a heartfelt crush. Moving on!

"Judai-kun…would you like to duel with me?" asked Ryou.

Jaden…Judai, blinked a few times as she immediately perked up and smiled. She happily exclaimed, "Heck yeah! Let me get my deck!"

Judai grabbed onto her dress's skirt and was about to pull it up when Ryou placed his hand on her shoulder. At this moment, Reizo wanted to strangle Ryou for stopping the girl of his dreams from showing him some leg. For Taniguchi, his eye twitched as he felt a rather perverse aura emanating from Reizo and…did his nose just start bleeding? Oh, wow…

* * *

Back with Ryou and Judai,

"Don't tell me…you placed your deck belt around your upper leg," said Ryou.

Judai blinked a few times, obviously stunned as she exclaimed, "How did you know?"

Believe it or not, Ryou actually knew that technique as about half of the Obelisk Blue girls used that technique since, to some, it gave them easier access to their deck and also, it was a bit of a precautionary against having their deck stolen (which rarely happened, but this is just a precautionary measure). I mean, come on! Anyone who knew better, would know that it was rude (not to mention, dangerous) to get close to a Obelisk Blue girl's leg…especially with their slightly heeled footwear (that can actually cause some serious pain below the belt on a guy) and the meanest slaps (sounds stereotypical, I know, but it's a bit of a reflex) a girl could actually give to a guy after yelling, "Hentai!" or "Pervert!". One or the other, they basically meant the same thing, which didn't matter since most guys would end up on the ground in a slightly bloody heap by then. Moving on!

Ryou sighed and shook his head as he replied, "Do this after we head to the dorm…we're being watched."

It was there that Momoe, Junko, Shou, Taniguchi, and Reizo immediately froze in their spots as terror engulfed them. It was a bit of a rumor with how wrathful Ryou could be, but since Shou was here…he could pretty much tell what his Onii-san was capable of, having lived with the guy his whole life.

Ryou placed his arm around Judai's shoulder as he began to lead her towards the Obelisk Blue dorms. It was still daytime and if Jaden was with him any longer, Ryou could always let the kid borrow some of his clothes to avoid any serious problems…or spend the night, whatever works as long as Ryou got a chance to duel with him…her. Even now, Ryou still had a hard time remembering Jaden was a girl, but it wasn't really much of a difference. To Jaden, gender was just something that was there to separate people when they go to the bathroom (as quoted by her) because in dueling…gender is nothing!

After the two were out of sight, Junko and Momoe stood up and grinned at each other as they had something else to add in "what happens in the room, stays in the room" album. They walked away as they conversed with each other about what just happened. Shou left moments later after recovering from his slight shock that he just saw his Onii-san escort his Aniki to the dorms…in that dress.

"_Oh, well…as long as Aniki's with Onii-san,"_ thought Shou. _"He'll be all right."_

Because anyone with Ryou is safe...at least, in Shou's opinion, which he knew from experience…dear Ra, is he developing a brother-complex?

Shou shook his head and collected his senses as he was _not_ going to go that far in admiring his brother. He sighed and continued to make his way out of Obelisk Blue territory. So ended another day, which just so happened to be on Valentine's Day, at Duel Academy.

However, for Reizo, it was far from over, seeing as he was mad at Daichi Misawa for letting his girl be that easily taken away by the Kaiser (though, Reizo was glad to see that Judai was with someone of their status). So to settle this problem, Reizo decided to do the one thing that Duel Academy was famous for when it came to solving problems…by dueling Daichi Misawa. Taniguchi felt a bit concerned for Reizo, seeing as this wouldn't end too well, but hey! He was more focused on how entertaining this might be!

"_I better start taking bets…"_ thought Taniguchi.

This was certainly going to be an interesting duel…once Reizo found Daichi, which he will do on White Day, since Reizo didn't want to take chances on making himself look bad by taking advantage of someone who is recovering from an illness.

* * *

A/N End of chapter. 2-17-11 Okay, this is the rest of the chapter and I'm sorry I wasn't able to get this part a few days ago, but I had to study for a history test and if I want to keep that C or try and raise it a bit, I have GOT to get better test scores since I can't exactly retake these tests since…this IS AP History. Anyways, sorry for this late update. the fact that this was the Valentine's Day chapter was just a bit of an excuse, but the real reason…1-5-11, while walking towards the library during lunch, I fell down and sprained my writing hand's little finger and just two weeks ago, I just found out that I actually fractured a bone in my finger, but it's so small, it's not really that much of concern…just so long as I keep on a splint so it heals correctly. And aside from that, a week ago, I just went through the most depressing time of my life since apparently, in English 10A, we got to learn a lot about the Holocaust and I had to do at least five assignments involving that topic. So many depressing articles I read…so…sad! I still get goose bumps from just even remembering reading those gruesome details.

Anyways, let's move onto the notes! And BTW, on that part involving the indirect kiss…I've been waiting at least _four months_ to write that scene! FOUR MONTHS, BABY! Ahem…moving on.

(1) That is a tradition I made up…if you want to use it, you better ask me because I went through a lot of thinking to get that made up! That…and I also screwed myself over sometimes for you guys! You have no idea how much I had to do so I could raise up three F's I had!

(2) A little joke involving the fact that if you sneeze a lot, someone might be talking about you. The part where Daichi got sick was a bit of a reference to Majo Rika from _Ojamajo Doremi_, which _4kids_ thoroughly screwed up on the English Dub. I was in Mexico (FYI, I happen to be Hispanic from both sides of my parents and I was born and raised in America…there, that's enough about me) at the time before _4kids_ dubbed it and I saw the Spanish dub and let me tell you, even though most of the names have been changed (except for Doremi and Hana's), that is just about it as they kept close to the original.

(3) Please excuse Daichi as he is currently suffering from a fever in that scene.

(4) Yes, for those of you who have already figured it out, Reizo implied that Daichi and Judai were about to do the _deed_, if you know what I mean. And if not…when a man and a woman love each other very much—okay, that's enough, I'm not going to be giving the talk or about the horizontal happy dance. Cookies to those who get which abridged series I quoted that part off! Hint: I gave a name from a series that Jaden picked to play _Melee_ with Daitokuji.

(5) It's just something that popped into mind since _Pokémon_ was part of another reason why I was late, a bit of a reference to _Raymscreator_ as Misawa gave a reference to the Pokémon starter types as in how water beats fire and fire beats grass and grass beats water (which is a loop!). Anyways, this is just something…I don't really know anymore as to why I placed the note, but oh, well!

(6) Excuse that, KD had a total game geek moment that she somehow couldn't resist in typing it in. Also, _VII_ is another reason as to why KD was late as she spent an _**hour **_looking for Yuffie in a forest fighting off monsters and the dress Jaden wore is another reference to Aerith...the very reason Sephiroth is on my kill list! Thank you for understanding, if not…oh, well!

(7) There are two ways to make chocolate, from cocoa powder, or the hard way! Since this is the Obelisk Blue girl's dorm…I kinda assume some of them are rich and they would choose making chocolate the hard way instead of the easy way as Jaden did with her backup. BTW, I made it easier for them so they only have nibs, which is what you get after roasting cocoa beans and taking off the shells…kinda a long process, but yeah! You can tell I did a lot of looking up…

(8) Okay, it may be referred to as an Alchemy deck, but it was late and I was going to change it, but nah! It grew on me and…Daitokuji dueling Jaden…another way for them to bond and the losing was to show that Jaden doesn't care much about winning as long as she has fun! And aside from that, I think I forgot what else what I was supposed to type down…

(9) There are times when those happen…don't you really hate that? Seriously, it's annoying and this a bit of humor since Jaden rarely loses and usually puts effort in all her duels, so when she ends up nearly winning only to lose, it turns out she wasn't even trying! Yeah…don't kill meh! DX

(10) You have no idea how shocked I was to know that Falkner's Japanese name is Hayato…I didn't see that coming and I am usually on the Bulbapedia and on the _Pokémon_ FF archives looking for N/Touko…what? I like those two together! It's cute… And how Jaden knows a Gym Leader's English name when this is Japan…ignore that, she just knows that.

(11) When Daichi has a fever, he can't think right, which explains why he almost had him mind in the gutter and that my friends, is something that I might never do again…MIGHT.

(12) Ladies and Gentlemen (if there are any, which if any, please stand up XD), we have just seen one of Jaden's feminine quirks, and if anyone can remember, Jaden has very few of these, so treasure the moment since it'll probably be a while since you'll see another again.

(13) Yes, I am making a reference to Edward Elric from _FMA_…anyone remember how I asked if anyone was thinking of _FMA_ when the word, "alchemy" was mentioned? When I mentioned the braid part, I ended up suddenly thinking of Edward Elric because of alchemy…and the hair. Yup! XD

(14) I somehow ended up making a bit of a _Naruto _reference, here, involving everyone's favorite lazy genius, Shikamaru Nara. The IQ part is where it made me realize it…

(15) Well, just about most guys in _Yu-Gi-Oh_ do have pretty boy-looking appearances and as stated by Marik: "Foolish fools! There are no women in _Yu-Gi-Oh_! There are only extremely girly men! And I am the most girly of them all!"

Point taken…but I think Otogi is more girly than Marik…then again, I take that back.

(16) Okayu is a sort of rice porridge eaten in Japan and is popularly known as food served to the ill. Because it is soft and easily digestible, okayu is the first solid food fed to an infant. Thanks to my knowledge of manga (which I had to look up a certain _Special A_ chapter…), I had to look this up because all I know is that it was a type of congee and then I had to see a recipe. There! You learn something new!

(17) And that, my friends, is me making a reference to my Pokémon Black and White fanfiction. Some of you guys who already read that chapter could tell that it has happened before when Cheren was staring at Bel in a yukata during a summer festival. If any of you are interested in reading the story, it's called _Our Last Pact: A Journey of Commemoration_. The first Pokémon story I actually put a LOT of thought into it since it involves cross-dressing, some angst (gasp!), and yet, I can still plug in some humor here and there. Yup! ^^

Yeah…and also, as a bit of info on me…I have just realize how close my two bandmates in Band class are like Momoe and Junko. One, they want to make me over, two, bandmate number one who sits next to me and plays the French horn (BTW, I play the saxophone) is trying to set me up with her cousin (who plays the tuba and sits behind me). Bandmate number two (who plays tenor saxophone), agrees with Bandmate number one and on Valentine's Day, Bandmate Number one tried to make her cousin my Valentine (to which we BOTH said NO) and when I said NO…let me type it out.

KD: "NO!"

Bandmate #1: "C'mon! I want you to be my cousin!"

KD: O_O

Yes, I know…awkward…FYI, she says that if she ever finds me at the college she's going…that's if I ever end up in the same college as hers…she will stop at nothing to get me drunk. Oi, I have weird bandmates…meh, I love them so, still! In Band, we're exactly like family! As quoted by my band teacher, who sometimes calls us names, but he will usually say, "…and I mean it with love" afterwards! Best band teacher _**ever**_! Anyways, aside from that, KD out! Bye and till next time! ^^


	20. Turn 20

A/N Behold! The chapter you've been waiting for nearly five months, now! It's long, almost fifty pages…you better be content with the length because it's compensating for the lateness of this story's update! DX Enjoy and **READ THE DAMN A/N** at the bottom of the page when you finish the chapter…if you are going to ask me anything, read the A/N…that's all I'm asking…

**5-30-12** Sorry guys who thought this was an update, really I am, but this was the only way I could get your guys' attention! Okay, guys, for those of you who don't know or haven't bothered to read my profile, I am on **hiatus** for this story! Don't bother me with "Update soon!" or "Please update!" or anything similar to that! You guys are **really** bugging me with that…I have other stories, too! God…this isn't my only story in existence. Sometimes I feel like this story overshadows my other stories at times… I have a few Pokémon stories up, like _Our Last Pact_ and _It's Not Easy Being Dawn_…

And then there's my new one, _I am Trainer_, which involves my first-ever Pokémon OC who has ADHD. It's better than it sounds…

And then there's my KH story revamp, _The Advent of Misadventures_…yeah, I got about seventeen chapters up for that story. And then there's my newest story of a different fandom, Naruto, which I just published on 5-29-12. It's called _The Wisteria_…I consider it a Naruto-counterpart to _I am Trainer_… Well, now that I finished explaining this hiatus, please, for the love of god, stop asking me about when I'm going to update! DX I'm gonna be busy this summer considering I'm now signed up in my town's pageant, gonna be a senior, and I have SATs to take on Saturday (go to _The Wisteria_ for more information on my status…it's in the A/N), so I can only focus on one story at a time! Please understand….

ALSO! Remember how I usually give credit to **Hestic**? Well, not anymore, since I'll be giving credit to **ChibiFoxAI**. Let me explain…the author, **Hestic**, is actually two people who shared an account…or used to be as the person I would usually give credit to is known as Chibi, who finally made her own account sometime ago. So from now on, whenever I give credit, it will usually be to **ChibiFoxAI**

**Also, with the addition of this A/N...this chapter IS over 50 pages long! DX Oh, the longness! You BETTER be reading that A/N...also, over 40,000 hits, now! Seriously, this is my most read story...like I said, I feel like it overshadows my other stories...DX  
**

With that said, read on~!

* * *

Chapter Twenty

Enter: The Lovesick Transfer

It had only been a few days after Valentine's Day, in which Jaden found herself basking in the awe that was starting a new game in her _Pocket Monsters_ (aka, _Pokémon_) game… Man, it _had_ been a while since she last started the game…

"_Okay, Kotone, let's kick Silver's ass!"_ Jaden thought as she set her stylus on the touch screen to initiate the move of her choice.

Shou watched curiously as he watched his Aniki play her game…upside-down in her bunk bed…her head was on the pillow and the pillow was on the floor… She was _so_ going to have one hell of a headache once she stood up… Hayato was currently drawing the whatnots of the current happenings between his friends…he was bored and teasing Flat-chest could keep him amused for oh, so long…

Sometime later, the three were now in the dining hall, set down at their usual seats at their usual table…as did the rest of the Osiris Red dorm. It wasn't much of an eventful day, so today marked yet another usual dinner time. And there was Daitokuji with Pharaoh in his arms, walking up to the front of the dining hall. He adjusted his glasses and looked at the Osiris Red students eat their meal…it took them about two to three weeks to FINALLY appreciate the food that Jaden loved to eat since day one. Why?

Well, they were beginning to get tired of buying bentos at Tome's shop and not to mention, their allowance could only last them so long…and the fact that what they didn't eat, usually went to Jaden as seconds, thirds…rarely ever, fourths, which only happened once and it was half of Shou's curry bread… He had a knack at drawing spicy-flavored breads as much as Jaden had a knack at drawing the Golden Egg Bread with Asuka and Taizan…their rivalry was still on!

Anyways, back to the topic with how much Jaden can stomach…it amazed the whole Osiris Red Dorm to how much someone as small as Shou can eat as much as two to three servings before being full. Shou can barely eat three quarters of his seconds before setting down his bowl, giving it to Jaden, and going back to his room to make tea. Very rarely did he ever finish seconds, but in comparison to Shou, Jaden rarely ever gained weight…hell! She didn't even gain half a pound, whereas most people would have already gained at least a pound. (1)

Ayukawa wasn't much shocked…just stunned as Jaden didn't have to work out as hard as she did, just to keep her figure…but then again, Jaden was (_is_) only fifteen years old…still young in comparison to Ayukawa, who was in her early to mid-twenties. Though, one couldn't help but wonder where it all went…moving on!

Daitokuji cleared his throat as he tried to get the attention of his students. "Nya…There's someone I would like to introduce to you all-nya."

Everyone (save for Jaden) stopped what they were doing (which was eating…obviously) as they turned to face Daitokuji, wanting to see who it was he was introducing. It was most likely a transfer student, which was not unlikely at this time of the school year since this time period was (is…usually) when the late entrance exams began to open for applicants wishing to transfer in.

"Nya!" said Daitokuji.

Shou sweat dropped as his Aniki continued to eat, not bothering to stop until she saw a small boy walk up to Daitokuji's side. Jaden blinked and swallowed, setting her bowl down on the table afterwards. She leaned onto the table to get a closer look at the new student.

The boy seemed a bit…young…but so did Shou and for one thing, Jaden knew for a fact that her otouto was fifteen…going on sixteen at the end of the month… which actually just reminded Jaden of something.

"_My birthday isn't this month…that's my mom's!" _thought Jaden. _"Meaning…oh…"_

Jaden was actually younger than Shou, making her actually Shou's otouto instead of Aniki…but influence-wise, Jaden was still Shou's Aniki no matter what. Well, that marks another thing that didn't matter…next to gender, age was another thing. And on another note, Jaden was not so good with dates involving her own birthday, which she managed to mistake her own mother's for hers…that also included her father into this since it was obviously his fault Jaden got that dress from Midori _waaay_ too early into the year. (2)

"_Note to self…"_ thought Jaden. _"Remind Dad that own birthday is not this month, but it is Mom's."_

Back on topic, this new student had navy blue hair that was…questionably short (he wore a forest green hat…a few hairs stuck out of the hat, you do the math). He had big, brown eyes with long, black eyelashes…and wore the standard Osiris Red uniform with gray pants…

Jaden arched her brow as she noticed two small bumps protruding slightly around the boy's chest…must be the black shirt he wore under his red jacket and maybe the fact that the jacket was a bit too small…if not for that idea, then Jaden might as well thought this boy was a girl. It couldn't necessarily be impossible for the kid to be a boy, though, what with the boy's pretty face…

"_Great, we got a pretty boy,"_ thought Jaden. "So…who is he?"

That question was answered instantly as Daitokuji introduced the boy.

"This is Rei Saotome-kun, who took the transfer test, and was admitted into Osiris Red for this journey-nya," said Daitokuji.

The boy, Rei, looked up and quickly took a glance around the room before turning his gaze back down onto the floor…he was definitely a shy one. Hayato laughed mentally as, give a few weeks' time at least, Jaden would most likely fix that problem. She already did that to Kohara and for the small-heighted Ra Yellow to stop being so nervous in a duel after a few visits and deep conversations from Jaden…it was actually stunning.

Even so, Hayato couldn't help but notice Rei's feminine-looking face, which he couldn't help but comment on. "He's as good-looking as a girl."

Jaden blinked and diverted her eyes on Hayato.

"And what am I, Falkner?" questioned Jaden.

Hayato closed his eyes and placed his hand on top of Jaden's head.

"A Healer named, 'Yellow'," said Hayato. "Nice try, flat-chest."

Jaden narrowed her eyes and decided to ignore Hayato…she'll get him in the morning by throwing him onto the ground. Heh heh…

"I wonder if he's upset because he was put in Osiris Red…" Shou said suddenly, wanting to change the subject and shift Hayato and Jaden's attention off each other and onto their new Osiris dorm mate. He sighed and crossed his arms, nodding as he said, "I know that feeling…"

Jaden blinked and looked at Shou for a few seconds. She then stood up from her seat and as loud as she could for everyone to hear (especially for Rei), she said, "All right!"

This caught everyone's attention as they were now all focusing their gaze on Jaden as she held up her hands in the air.

"Go…Go…Reeeei!" Jaden exclaimed loudly.

Rei started agape at Jaden, a slight blush tingeing his cheeks as all he could do was stare…what was up with that boy?

"_He's a… strange one…"_ he thought.

If only he knew…if _only_ he knew…

Jaden lowered her arms and nodded as she made her way over to Rei. It was official…this kid was definitely on her top list of priorities to focus on!

"C'mon, don't feel bad 'cause your grades suck!" Jaden said rather bluntly…but who really gave a damn about that? It was true, about the majority of the Osiris Reds had sucky grades…she knew that for a fact because her grades were _definitely_ sucky, though she was talking a bit on her own behalf…

Though, this _was_ coming from the girl who usually slept through her exams after finishing a reasonable amount answers right (usually the _only_ questions she's answered on the exam) to keep her grades average and away from getting her expelled…moving on!

Rei could only stare at Jaden as the Osiris Red grabbed a hold of one of his hands and placed his (Jaden's) arm around his (Rei's) shoulder. Jaden patted Rei on the shoulder reassuringly, not noticing the boy's flustered expression.

"You'll have fun being with us!" said Jaden.

Daitokuji laughed nervously as he said, "You're misunderstanding-nya…"

Jaden blinked and smiled, replying, "I was just saying stuff to try and—"

Rei managed to pull away from Jaden, causing the brunette to arch her brow at the boy as he hid behind Daitokuji.

"…make this transfer student feel better…" Jaden continued on as Daitokuji walked up to her.

Daitokuji place his hand on Jaden's head and ruffled her hair a bit.

"Yuki-kun…that's not the point," explained Daitokuji. "It's not that Saotome-kun was placed in Osiris Red because of having bad grades-nya."

Jaden blinked and looked at Rei, noticing the slight blush on his cheeks.

"New transfer students are first admitted into this dorm-nya," said Daitokuji. "Saotome-kun's grades could soon move him to Ra Yellow-nya."

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. She laughed a bit and pointed at Rei as she closed her eyes. Well…this was awkward…almost as awkward when Ryou thought she was confessing to him.

"Well, having more friends in Osiris Red is a warm welcome!" Jaden said as she scampered over to Rei's side and slung her arm around his shoulder. "Right, Shou? Hayato?"

Shou and Hayato watched as their female roommate gave them a V-sign, an obvious blush tingeing her cheeks. Rather than say no, the two could only agree…they did NOT want to face Jaden's wrath (Jaden was scary when she was mad…). So the two sat up and smiled as they said, "Of course!"

Daitokuji smiled. "Thank goodness-nya!"

Jaden blinked and wondered why Daitokuji seemed almost…relieved?

"Huh?" thought Jaden.

"Because we don't have enough rooms, I was wondering what to do-nya!" said Daitokuji.

Jaden blinked a few times as she tried to grasp the context of the situation. Shou and Hayato, on the other hand, already figured out what Daitokuji was going say next.

"You can use Jaden-kun and his friends' room for a little while," said Daitokuji.

Jaden blinked again and smiled as she just brought Rei closer. She didn't really mind rooming in with another guy, even though she could obviously offer her room to Rei or her bunk bed…the latter, which shall never happen because Jaden was _very_ attached to the bottom bunk. Shou and Hayato just sighed as they both heard Rei said, "Right."

And that marks roommate number four! Jaden began to escort Rei to her and her roommates' table, during which, she decided to converse with her new roommate.

"You know, I was almost in Ra Yellow…" said Jaden.

Rei blinked and looked at Jaden as he asked, "Really? Why aren't you?"

"I declined!" said Jaden. "My heart's set on this dorm! No matter how crappy people say it is!"

Rei couldn't help but find something rather strange with that…but could get a sense of what Jaden was trying to tell him. Though, something about the boy's personality and the aura he gave off made Rei feel a bit…nervous. Otherwise, Rei was actually rather content to have found someone so willing to be friends with him!

Sometime later,

Shou, Hayato, Jaden, and Rei stared at the bed next to the bunk bed. The bed's large size made getting to Jaden's bunk and the desk across from the bunk bed an inconvenience. What's more, the bed made the room seem even narrower.

"I-It's narrow…" Hayato said as he clutched the bunk bed ladder.

Shou nodded as he added, "There's no room to stand, either…"

Rei bit his lip and looked down at his shoes.

"I'm sorry…" he said awkwardly.

Jaden looked at her roommates and crossed her arms, sighing as she said, "Hey! It isn't all bad!"

To prove her point, Jaden took off her red jacket and hopped onto Rei's bed. Afterwards, she rolled to the side and landed into her bunk bed easily. A few seconds had passed before Jaden popped out and propped her arms onto the bed.

"C'mon, it doesn't matter how narrow it is!" Jaden said as she placed her head on top of her arms. "As long as we've got room to eat and sleep, it's fine! Besides!"

Jaden lifted her head and patted the mattress with her hand.

"This makes getting into bed, fun!" said Jaden. "Also…Hayato…you just avoided a heavy landing tomorrow morning…Rei, you might wanna move out of the way when I give the sign one of these days…"

Hayato sighed in relief…at least one good thing came out of the bed. There goes Jaden pushing him off the bed or at least him having a hard landing on the floor… Shou smiled and grabbed onto Rei's arm.

"All right!" said Shou. "Now let's all go take a bath!"

Hayato closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he nodded. "Washing each other's backs, naked, brings us guys closer!"

Jaden narrowed her eyes at Hayato.

"I did not need to hear that…" she remarked.

Hayato smirked at Jaden and asked, "Aren't you the one who told us that?"

Jaden blinked a few times and tilted her head to the side. "I did…wait…I _did_?"

Shou nodded as he began to take off his jacket.

"Aniki did say that!" said Shou.

Jaden closed her eyes and let out a puff of breath.

"Well, leave _me_ out of this…" said Jaden. "And by the way, it turns out I'm actually younger than you…"

Shou nodded as he began to take off his shirt, which managed to get out a shriek from Rei. Rei recoiled to the sight of Shou's bare chest and turned around, covering his eyes with his hands. Jaden blinked and looked at Shou, covering her eyes afterwards.

"Shou!" exclaimed Jaden. "Put your shirt back on! No one wants to see that and I have Rei to back me up, now!"

Believe it or not, Jaden still had issues with seeing any of her guy friends, shirtless…save for Taizan, who she already gotten used after their first duel…what? The two already saw each other (in a sense on Taizan's behalf) shirtless, so they kinda went past that part…well, in Jaden's perspective. Taizan…not so much…Moving on!

Shou blinked a few times and blushed slightly as he remembered…his roommate was a _girl_! That's the second time today he forgot that today! Gah! And what did she mean by "I'm actually younger than you"?

"Sorry, Aniki!" he exclaimed as he placed his shirt back on, much to the relief of both Jaden and Rei.

Rei coughed into his hand and said, "Uh…r-right!"

Rei paused for a moment as he tapped his finger on his chin, trying to think of a way to avoid bathing with Hayato and Shou and the questions that might ensue. He coughed again and with that, Rei found his excuse.

"I-I have a bit of a cold, so…" said Rei.

Shou and Hayato just stared at Rei before shrugging it off. No sense in asking, then! That was a reasonable excuse…though, Jaden didn't think so. She looked questioningly at Rei and arched her brow at the pretty-faced boy.

"Aniki…what do you mean by you're younger than me?" asked Shou.

Jaden diverted her gaze on Shou and closed her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Turns out, my birthday isn't until the next school year. I just remembered…my mom's birthday is in this month, not mine…my mother's."

Shou blinked a few times and pointed at himself. "Does that make me you're Aniki?"

"Shou, I'm whatever you want me to be," said Jaden. "Just so long as you're comfortable with the nickname and I'm okay with it…we're good."

And it was as of that moment, Shou considered Jaden his Aniki, no matter what. Age was just another thing that didn't matter next to gender, however that did tell Shou something about Jaden… Jaden had really bad memory involving her own birthday. Why Jaden would mistake her own birthday with her own mother's, Shou will probably never know but it didn't matter…that was something worth explaining later.

A few minutes after Shou and Hayato left, Rei could feel Jaden's questioning stare burn into the back of his head.

"What?" he asked.

Jaden blinked and held up her index finger. "You're not really sick, aren't you?"

Rei looked nervously at Jaden, obviously taken aback with the older boy's question. _"Crap, he's onto me!"_

Jaden crawled out of her bunk bed and onto Rei's bed. She looked at the boy for a few seconds before snapping her finger and exclaiming, "You're just shy!"

Rei blinked a few times before stuttering a, "H-H-How did you know?"

Jaden smiled widely. "You're blushing."

Rei's blush just turned an even darker shade of red at that mere mention, earning him a laugh from Jaden.

"That's just cute!" said Jaden. "Don't worry about it! I won't tell…Koala-man would obviously find a way to tease you, like he does me, with that problem of yours!"

Rei blinked and tilted his head to the side.

"Koala-man?" he questioned.

"Hayato Maeda…the big guy," said Jaden. "Ya know, because he looks like a koala!"

Rei arched his brow at Jaden and thought about Hayato's resemblance to a koala. Not long after, Rei burst into laughter at that realization.

"You're right!" he exclaimed. "He _does_ look like a koala!"

Jaden closed her eyes and smiled widely at Rei. "He sure does!"

After a few moments, the two Osiris Reds calmed down from their moment of laughter…the two were already getting along quite well! Jaden sighed and looked at Rei.

"So…you wanna use my bathhouse?" asked Jaden.

Rei looked at Jaden, perplexed.

"Your bathhouse?" questioned Rei.

Jaden nodded.

A few moments later,

Jaden opened the door to her room and led Rei inside. Rei looked around the room in awe after Jaden flipped the switch and turned on the light. It was a modest-looking room with its own sense of style, which was that of nostalgia involving home. It was a decent size and bigger than the room they were previously in…obviously.

"What do you think of it?" asked Jaden.

"It's awesome!" said Rei. "Say…why are you rooming with Shou and Hayato if you have your own room?"

Jaden crossed her arms and held up her index finger.

"Because as Shou's Aniki, ignoring age, I have to be by his side at all times!" she said as a matter-of-factly.

Rei narrowed his eyes at Jaden. "Then why aren't you bathing with him?"

"Because I like my privacy!" said Jaden. "Don't you?"

Rei blinked and nodded. Good point…

* * *

The next morning in the Main Academy Building,

Osiris Reds, Ra Yellows, and Obelisk Blues lined up, facing a large, rectangular screen with Samejima's image on the monitor. Today was a day of commemoration worth noting, due to an upcoming event.

"_**Our yearly good-will duel with our sister-school, the Duel Academy's North Campus, is drawing near,"**_ announced Samejima.

Ryou stood out in the Obelisk Blue section, due to the spot light being on him…courtesy of the person with access to the lighting.

"_**Last year, our then Second-Year, Ryou Marufuji defeated the North Campus representative, bringing our campus victory,"**_ Samejima continued on.

Rei and Shou stood up in the front of the Osiris Red group, with Jaden just behind them. Rei diverted his gaze on Ryou, staring at the Obelisk Blue with what seemed to be admiration…at least, that's what Shou thought as he noticed the look on his roommate's face. Smiling, Shou cupped his hand around his mouth as he began to whisper into Rei's ear.

"Heh, that's my Nii-san!" Shou whispered.

A small, barely noticeable blush tinged Rei's cheeks momentarily as he turned to Shou. Shou, feeling a bit…proud, closed his eyes and smiled.

"He just had better grades than I did…" said Shou.

Jaden looked at Shou and smiled as she resisted the urge to ruffle his hair. He was obviously trying to make a good expression on Rei. That was adorable…

"_**Our campus representative for this year hasn't been decided upon yet, but…"**_ said Samejima. _**"…keep putting in your daily great effort, everyone, so that any of you can be selected."**_

With that said, the screen went blank with Duel Academy insignia on it. Another announcement given, another job well done…

Jaden was very pumped up! She heard everything and she wanted in… And to do that, Jaden had to quick slacking off… It was going to be bothersome, considering she would have to do all her homework on time and stay awake during her exams… This was definitely going to prove troublesome, but for what it is worth…Jaden could deal with this.

The gender-mistaken girl popped out of line and came in between Rei and Shou. She had her fists tightened and a look of determination in her eyes. Yes, she was definitely going to be working harder from now on!

"All right!" exclaimed Jaden. "Who wouldn't work hard, aiming to be the representative?"

Shou crossed his arms and looked sternly at his Aniki. "As good as you are, Aniki, Kaiser Ryou's no doubt going to be chosen as this year's representative!"

Jaden puckered her lips as she frowned at Shou. Why…why does her dream have to always be killed? Let her have her moment, dammit!

"Tch…" she said, her eyes diverting to Rei.

Jaden blinked as she noticed that Rei was staring at Kaiser Ryou with a look in his eyes…what the heck? Did Rei want to duel Ryou, too? Speaking of which…Jaden had a date (A/N Not in _that_ way!) with Ryou involving dueling. Oh, today was going to be fun…why? Because Ryou was the reason why Junko and Momoe haven't been able to find Jaden in three full days! It was a glorious feeling to not be discovered by those two…and it was also glorious not being put in girly clothing and covered in makeup.

"Excuse me, but I need to go," said Jaden. "I'll meet you guys back at the dorm, later, 'kay?"

Shou nodded and watched his Aniki make his-er, her… way out through the crowd. Even now, Shou still had trouble remembering that his Aniki is a girl, what with the pronouns she referred to herself as and the times she sometimes even said "ore" instead of "boku"… (3)

* * *

A few moments later,

Jaden stretched out her arms after making it into the hallway. She felt good because, right now, she was waiting for Ryou and there was no sign of—oh, god, no! Everything just went black and…oh, dear Ra…she just got dragged into a closet by Junko and Momoe, didn't she?

"I just got dragged into a closet by you guys, didn't I?" Jaden said, her expression blank as a light flashed on.

Junko and Momoe smiled at their gender-mistaken friend, having just flipped on the switch to the light. Momoe wrapped her arms around Jaden and embraced her friend tightly.

"Jaden-kun!" exclaimed Momoe. "You never told me you were meeting up with Ryou!"

Jaden blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes.

"It's supposed to be a secret…" said Jaden. "How did you guys find out?"

Junko crossed her arms and smirked as she held out her PDA with a certain website on it. "Reizo's blog."

Jaden blinked a few times and looked at the PDA, scowling when she saw that it was indeed Reizo's blog…wait? He had a blog? When was this? No matter…Jaden was too pissed that her personal life had just been exposed slightly!

"God dammit, Reizo!" exclaimed Jaden. "So…what are you going to do to me? Put me in a dress? Make-up…dare I say it, heels?"

Anything but the heels…and the cheongsam, because that is waaay to clingy on the body and Jaden despises clingy clothing.

Junko shook her head and replied, "No…quite the contrary. We're actually giving you an upgraded form of the female uniform. Custom made…also, quit using 'ore', use 'boku' if you want to be boyish."

Jaden huffed at Junko and looked away from the rufous-haired girl. Momoe just smiled and released Jaden as she bent down to pick up a bag. Jaden looked at the bag as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.

"I am _not_ wearing the padded bra!"

Ten minutes later,

Jaden walked out of the closet, feeling somewhat violated by Junko, who was checking to see if she had, ahem…'grown' since the last time the rufous-haired girl saw her. At least the clothes she was wearing suited her clothing tastes.

No more short skirts, for once, much to Jaden's relief. The uniform was obviously custom made, as Junko already stated it. It also seemed to be modified version of the Obelisk Blue female uniform.

Jaden wore a pair of white shorts with a black, sleeveless shirt and a blue vest. She had on black stockings that went up to her mid thigh and a pair of shoes that resembled her usual pair, only instead of red and black…it was blue and black. Her deck belt was replaced with a slightly bigger one that had to be tied around her hips…twice. According to Momoe, it was just for style…which would explain the black, fingerless gloves she was wearing. All in all…Jaden actually liked this uniform! Though, she could actually do with a longer short length, but the fact that this wasn't as closefitting as the girl's uniform made it worth wearing. (4)

And the only type of makeup she had on was mascara… Thank Osiris for Junko forgetting to pack lip gloss!

"Now to find Kaiser Ryou…" Jaden said, turning around…only to find herself nearly face to face with Kaiser Ryou. "Speak of the devil…"

Ryou looked questioningly at Jaden, wondering if that was even her. Jaden looked actually normal for once, so much that Ryou was having a hard time figuring out which name to refer the Osiris Red by.

"Judai?" said Ryou.

Jaden blinked a few times and nodded. Well, this was slightly awkward…

"Junko and Momoe, again?" asked Ryou.

Jaden…Judai nodded and sighed as she grabbed onto Ryou's sleeve, tugging on it afterwards.

"Let's just get to the dorm, Kaiser…" said Judai. "You still have my backup clothes…right?"

Ryou began to walk alongside Judai as she continued to tug on his sleeve, ignoring every stare that he got as he walked by students. It was not worth paying attention to. And about that backup…well…

"In the wash," said Ryou.

Judai blinked and looked at Ryou wide-eyed. "What do you mean it's in the wash?"

Ryou diverted his eyes on Judai. "The cake incident…"

Judai blinked a few times and said, "Oh…right…forgot about that…wait, didn't I bring an extra pair?"

"You forgot," said Ryou. "Why don't I just let you borrow my clothes again?"

Judai huffed and let go of Ryou's sleeve as she stopped walking. She crossed her arms and looked at Ryou, whom stopped to see what was wrong.

"For your information, Kaiser," said Judai. "It's not that I don't appreciate your offer or anything, but as you can see…you're a fricken' _giant_ when compared to me! Your legs are _really_ long, and mine aren't…"

Ryou arched his brow at Judai, not seeing where she was going in her point.

"And your point is?" said Ryou.

Judai blinked a few times and tilted her head to the side in wonder.

"I…I forgot…" said Judai. "Let's…let's just forget about that…" (5)

With that said, Judai and Ryou began walking down the hallway again. After a few moments of silence, Judai turned to Ryou.

"But seriously, you _are_ taller than me," said Judai.

"No, you're just short," said Ryou.

Judai blinked a few times and stopped walking again as she stared at Ryou. Ryou continued walking, not noticing Judai stopped… and, in fact, he didn't know Judai stopped at all. All he _did_ know was how _loud_ she was when she suddenly came running up to him, exclaiming, "Did you just make a joke?" (6)

Sometime later,

Judai carefully peered out from behind the wall into a hallway, looking to make sure the coast was clear. She nearly exclaimed when Ryou pulled her back; having seen a few Obelisk Blue students in the distance in the hallway opposite of the one Judai was looking into. Ryou pulled Judai behind himself and crossed his arms, trying to look casual as the Obelisk Blue students walked past him. As this happened, Ryou hoped deep down that Judai would not screw up her hiding place behind his back…accepting only one girl's chocolates on Valentine's Day was one thing as was inviting her to his dorm, but having people _talk_ about it, was another.

This was actually the first time Ryou has _ever_ invited a girl to his dorm and, seeing as it was _the_ Kaiser Ryou Marufuji, Third-Year Obelisk Blue, whom had invited a girl to his dorm…talk about it would spread like a wildfire…especially with Reizo and Taniguchi doing the talking and confirming.

Taniguchi would make the matter sound more like a humorous factor as that is what he was known for. He'd probably make a mention about Ryou's sexuality or something. If Reizo was right by…dear, god, the possible innuendoes that _could_ come out of his mouth…

Ryou had already heard from Daichi about it and seeing as Daichi had personal experience…

Dear Ra, those guys' infatuation with Judai was just bizarre…well, Reizo's was, Taniguchi already knew where the line was and refrained from crossing said line. He already knew the damage Judai could deal, and thus, infatuation changed to admiration…because Taniguchi found girls who were strong, cool…like Kaiser.

Reizo was pretty much ignorant and didn't even acknowledge the existence of the line and his infatuation with Judai just grew stronger with each hit, kick, and punch she threw at him. Moving on…

Judai stayed very still as she would rather avoid being spotted, now that Ryou seemed intent on keeping her hidden. She had no clue why Ryou wanted her to not be seen, but she could assume it had to do with the fact that she was the first girl he had ever invited into the Obelisk Blue dorms…not even Asuka got invited and for _good_ reasons.

Thus, the two Obelisk Blues were limited to watching the sun rise from the pier by the lighthouse. There, Ryou and Asuka usually conversed about school life, dueling, and more dueling…and every once in a while, they would talk about Fubuki Tenjoin. The question about his whereabouts was still left unanswered…

Judai snapped out of her thoughts as an Obelisk Blue student greeted Ryou.

"Hey, Kaiser," he said.

Judai blinked and tensed up as she recognized that voice…her eyes widened as she carefully peered out from behind Ryou.

"_Oh, god no…not them…"_ Judai thought as she spotted a very familiar Obelisk Blue with his right-hand man.

Dammit, it was Shuichi and Tadao …and they didn't look like they were walking away anytime now as they were too busy talking to Ryou…

"_Damn it, Ryou!"_ thought Judai. _"Why do you have to be so goddamn popula_—AAHH!"

Ryou _nearly_ exclaimed at Judai's sudden _loud_ outburst, but stayed silent, though wide-eyed. Judai scared the living daylights out of him…and if it wasn't for her scream, then it might as well be the fact that she _literally_ jumped a few feet off the ground and wrapped her arms and legs around his neck and waist (respectively)…tightly, _especially_ around the neck. Ryou stayed calm as, even though Judai was clearly choking him (not much, but it was a bit of a bother…), there were matters much more important at stake…seeing as Judai just blew her cover.

Judai was breathing in and out heavily as her heart palpitated at a rapid pace…most obviously from shock. It wasn't her fault that she got startled by someone tapping on her shoulder… After a few seconds, Judai loosened her hold around Ryou's neck, having calmed down to a certain extent.

"Sorry about that, Kaiser, but I—I just gave myself away, didn't I?" said Judai.

Judai's expression went blank as she narrowed her eyes. Ryou just turned his head to look at Judai. He didn't have to say anything as the look in his eyes pretty much answered Judai's question.

"Frak…" said Judai.

"Judai…you're on me," said Ryou.

Judai blinked a few times and looked over herself. Ryou was right…she was on him and how the heck did she end up on his back? …oh, right! She was startled…

"Gah!" exclaimed Judai.

Ryou winced at the loud volume Judai shouted in…especially since she was close to his ear. Ryou rubbed his ear and wondered what caused Judai to scream…only for him to find out why as Shuichi's right hand man, Tadao, had said gender-mistaken girl in his hold. Tadao held Judai up in the air by the back of her shirt, looking at Ryou as he asked the Third-Year a question.

"Want me to get rid of this cross-dresser for you, Kaiser Ryou?" asked Tadao.

Ryou didn't have time to answer as Judai went ballistic at being held up off the ground in the air by the back of her shirt…like a little kid! She _hated_ being picked up like that! And she was _so_ not a cross-dresser! At least not in this uniform, which she already knew, was an modified version of the female uniform, courtesy of Junko and Momoe.

"Put me down, put me down!" Judai shouted as she flailed around. "Put me down, dammit! Gah! If you don't put me down right now, I'll—!"

Tadao held Judai in front of himself so the two were now face to face with each other. Judai clamped up as she stared Tadao right in the eye.

"Or what?" questioned Tadao.

Judai stayed oddly quiet for someone she had previously kicked down and sent into a wall. It was strange, even for her, as for the first time in many years…she was actually scared. Memories began to pop up in mind…memories of Judai, as a child, being bullied. Tadao reminded her of one of her bullies for some reason and…Judai's eyes widened at that realization. Tadao _was_ one of her bullies!

Images of being held back by Tadao as other children proceed to punch and kick her popped up in Judai's mind. Back then, there was nothing she could do except stay still and take it. Locks of long, brown hair falling onto the floor flashed in Judai's eyes. Tadao had been the reason for her short hair…

Judai was beginning to hyperventilate, earning her a concerned stare from Ryou. He had never seen his brother's friend act like this…ever. It disturbed him to see someone he had seen as a strong person look so…vulnerable. Judai just looked so small and defenseless for once…it wasn't like her to be like this.

Tears began to weld up in the corners of Judai's eyes as she remembered one of her most traumatizing bullying experiences…when she took up baseball.

Tadao looked strangely at the Obelisk Blue student he held up. He had been really quiet after Tadao spoke to him and now…look at him. The guy was practically freaking out and…did his eyes just turn yellow?

"Put me down, you fucking_ idiot_!" yelled Judai.

Ryou's eyes widened as Judai completely snapped. Never once had he seen Judai _this_ angry before and this reckless—actually, scratch that, this was pretty much normal of her to do. Anger…not so much, but from what he knew…she was kind of scary when angry.

Tadao was highly offended with the tone Judai yelled at him and the name he called him! That's it! He was getting it! Just as Tadao was about ready to punch Judai…Judai beat him to it as she smashed her fist into Tadao's face. A sickening crack was made from the impact against Judai's fist on Tadao's face.

Shuichi felt déjà vu from just watching the whole scene. He knew from experience that Tadao's nose was broken as he heard the same sound before when that damn Osiris Red slugged him. It was like last time, only…it was an Obelisk Blue instead of an Osiris Red and this time, it was in front of the Kaiser and…did that Obelisk Blue's eyes just turned yellow? Weren't they brown a second ago?

Tadao immediately dropped Judai as he tried to tend to his broken nose. Judai stared wide-eyed at the black-haired Obelisk Blue. She backed away slowly before hiding behind Ryou, clutching onto the back of his jacket as she tried to figure out what just happened.

Jin and Shigeru ran to Tadao's side whilst Shuichi walked up to Ryou, trying to take a look at the Obelisk Blue student behind the Third-Year.

"Who is he?" asked Shuichi.

"First-Year Obelisk Blue, Judai," said Ryou.

Shuichi arched his brow. "Judai what?"

Ryou blinked and looked at Judai, seeing as the gender-mistaken student never did mention a decoy surname to use. Judai bit her lip and tried to think of one quickly, suddenly coming to a realization not long after. She whispered into Ryou's ear.

"Judai Kawai," said Ryou.

"Kawai…that's an unusual name," said Shuichi. "And Judai?"

Shuichi looked behind Ryou at Judai, whom quickly backed away. She was still getting over the fact that she blanked out after nearly having a panic attack, no thanks to Tadao…how did his nose get broken…? She had no idea, but assuming from the blood on her knuckles, it was her…

"_I must've acted on a reflex…"_ thought Judai.

"And you might want to use your pronouns carefully," said Ryou. "Judai…is a girl, a boyish one, to be precise, but still a _girl_, nonetheless."

Immediately, this got Tadao's attention as he began to feel rather awkward, having just found out the student he was going to punch was female. Though, it made him feel even more awkward to know that a First-Year female student just punched and broke his nose.

Shuichi, on the other hand, just seemed a bit indifferent as he walked up to Judai. Judai, having calmed down…a bit, just glared at Shuichi. What did he want?

"Judai…chan?" said Shuichi.

THUD!

Judai punched her fist into the wall, ignoring the pain in her knuckles from the impact as she continued to glare at Shuichi. Shuichi knew that that meant to drop the "chan" as Judai didn't seem to like being called, "chan". So this was the same girl who gave him chocolate…she seemed so tomboyish, now…yet, the look suited her. Not as feminine like the last time he saw her, so it was a bit of an easy mistake to make involving Judai's gender.

"Judai-kun…thank you for the chocolates," said Shuichi.

Tadao blinked and looked agape at Judai. She was the same girl who knocked him down last time! Oh, boy…that just made things waaay more awkward…especially since he called her a cross-dresser. That was probably a low blow to her femininity…

Judai just turned her head and looked away. "Don't mention it…seriously, don't."

Shuichi just looked at Judai and then at Tadao. Maybe he should get Tadao out…his right-hand man _did_ freak out the Obelisk Blue girl…

"C'mon, Tadao," said Shuichi. "Let's take you to Ayukawa-sensei…"

Tadao stared at Shuichi as he walked right by. Looking back at Judai, Tadao reluctantly followed after Shuichi. He still had a bone to pick with Judai…no one gets away with punching and breaking his nose and—

"Drop it, Tadao," said Shuichi. "You just called a female Obelisk Blue student a cross-dresser and freaked her out…and in turn, your nose got broken. Don't make it worse…"

Tadao looked at Shuichi and suppressed a groan wanting to leave his mouth. He sometimes hated it when Shuichi can read him like an open book…whatever. The girl wasn't worth it…hell! She didn't even _deserve_ to be acknowledged as a female! Yeah, that's how he'd get back at her…

After a few moments, Ryou looked at Judai, Tadao and Shuichi having walked out of view.

"What happened?" asked Ryou.

Judai was looking down, her bangs covering her eyes. She was oddly quiet, but she was tightening her fists… Ryou arched his brow at the gender-mistaken girl and placed his hand under her chin. He tilted Judai's head up to get the girl to look at him. Ryou was taken aback at how Judai looked…

Tears were beginning to stream down Judai's cheeks, her teeth clenched together as she tried to keep herself from losing it. Ryou felt very strange at the sight of Judai trying to keep herself from crying… He tentatively reached for her shoulder and spoke to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Of course, it was obvious she wasn't, but Ryou didn't know what to do at the moment…and he certainly did not know what to do when Judai suddenly lost it and started bawling. Ryou backed up a bit in recoil as he watched Judai crying, somewhat relieved that the Obelisk Blue dorms were pretty much deserted at this time. Even so, Ryou still felt very confused on what to do with this. He was used to seeing girls, cry…no thanks to their lovesick crushes and his rejections…

Ryou usually left the crying girls alone as he had better things to do and they could pretty much take care of themselves, he knew they weren't weak…albeit, emotionally fragile, but _not_ weak. But this was Judai…Jaden Yuki, his brother's Aniki…he couldn't just leave her here like this. Ryou felt very confused, and still…he wanted to do something to get Jaden to stop crying, but what? He had no experience with girls whatsoever apart that Asuka and Jaden were really good duelists and…Asuka…she'd know what to do!

Luckily, for Ryou, his room was just ahead and his PDA had Asuka on speed-dial…why? Because ever since Fubuki went missing…yeah, and it also made it more convenient. So what was he going to do with Jaden, now…? Ryou blinked a few times and walked up to Jaden, who was still crying. She didn't seem like she was going to move anytime, now, so to speed things up…

Ryou looked around to make sure no one was in the vicinity before he did something he thought he'd never do anytime this early in life… He knelt down and picked Jaden up, cradling the upper part of her body with one hand and wrapping her legs over the other. Thus, no one shall ever know of the **Legendary Princess-carry**that Ryou had used to take Jaden to his room. (7)

It shall also _**never**_ be spoken of again, lest Ryou wanted Jaden to gain some jealous girls on her case…that happened to also be very violent. That would be bad because Jaden would get hurt physically (mentally, she was very strong, so insults didn't work much on her unless it involved a touchy subject) and if she got hurt, Shou would be concerned. And if Shou was concerned, he would go to Ryou and demand to know as to _why_ his Aniki was being bullied by girls. Yeah, Shou was very protective of his Aniki as Hayato was his Imouto-chan (same person, different nicknames)…only not as aggressive.

After setting Jaden down on his bed, Ryou grabbed his PDA off the small dresser next to the side of his bed, right in the drawer where he kept his deck. Jaden was still crying and it was beginning to take a number on Ryou's heart. It felt like someone was punching him repeatedly in the chest...and someone just kicked him in the stomach. Gah, he can't take it anymore…

"_Please, stop crying, for god's sake…"_ thought Ryou.

"_**Hello?"**_ said a voice on the other line.

Ryou nearly let out a relieved sigh but decided to hold it in as he said, "Asuka…"

"_**Oh, Ryou!"**_ said Asuka. _**"What is it and is someone crying? Ryou, did you reject another girl?"**_

Ryou sweat dropped. Now this was a tad bit awkward…but moving on, Ryou needed tips on how to get Jaden to stop crying. For the love of god, her cries were killing him! It was like that time he wasn't able to get to Shou on time before a group of bullies managed to get to him because of a grudge they held against Ryou. Because of that, Shou ended up with a black-eye, lost his two front teeth, and he was bawling his eyes out. It made Ryou feel oh, so irresponsible since he felt it was his duty to protect his little brother (aka, otouto).

"No, this is different…Judai had an encounter with Shuichi and Tadao," explained Ryou.

"_**Oh, so how did it go and how does this explain the crying girl?"**_ asked Asuka.

Ryou placed his hand on his forehead. "Well…this crying girl is the result of her encounter with Tadao…"

"_**Oh, dear Ra, don't tell me…"**_ said Asuka. _**"That crying girl, is…?"**_

"Jaden, herself," said Ryou. "Look, I need help…how do I get her to stop crying?"

"_**Look, just tell me what happened,"**_ Asuka said calmly. _**"Why is she crying?"**_

"I don't know, I thought you would know," said Ryou.

Asuka sighed and at that moment, Ryou could already see Asuka face-palming in his mind.

"_**Ryou, she was with you…how would **_**I**_** know?"**_ asked Asuka. _**"You know what…forget it…try to comfort Jaden. That might work."**_

Ryou blinked a few times and looked at Jaden, arching his brow at her. How was he supposed to do _that_?

"How?" he asked.

Asuka resisted the urge to face-palm. Shou was right…Ryou's experience with girls was the _exact_ opposite in comparison to his experience with rejecting girls. No, no, no…now is not the time to think about that, Jaden was still crying. Asuka sighed and shook her head.

"_**I don't know, hug her?"**_ Asuka suggested, resisting the urge to snort at that suggestion.

Like Ryou would hug Jaden…pfft, now that's a funny thought! Really, it was. However…Ryou was known for doing unexpected things sometimes…like eating Jaden's chocolates.

Ryou just stared at Jaden, who was still crying…this has been going on for more than ten minutes, now. He was beginning to get worried and seeing as he didn't have anything other ideas, Ryou walked over to Jaden and did something very unexpected of him that even Shou wouldn't have expected (and that is _very_ surprising)…he did as Asuka suggested he do (even though the suggestion was done on a _whim_…).

Jaden stopped crying for a few moments in shock as she tried to grasp the context of her current situation. Was the Kaiser hugging her?

"_Is Kaiser hugging me?"_ thought Jaden.

Ryou stayed very quiet and still as the tension began to rise. It was getting thicker and thicker with every awkward second that once could probably use a knife to cut it. Though, on the hindsight, Jaden did stop crying and—

"WAAAGGHH!" yelled Jaden.

…Never mind. Now Jaden was hugging Ryou back…very tightly. She almost cracked his spine and now if anyone walked into his room, this scene would be very awkward. Why did he forget to lock the door?

"_**Ryou…what are you doing?"**_ asked Asuka.

Crap…Ryou still had her on the line and now, with Jaden clinging onto his waist…how was he supposed to explain this? Well, at least it wasn't via video phone…

"…I'll call you back," Ryou said, turning off his PDA. "Now what to do with her…"

Ryou tried to pull Jaden off himself…gently, but to no avail. She had a _good_ grip…well, nothing else to do but for Ryou to stay still and hope that Jaden either stopped crying and let go or probably exhaust herself to unconsciousness.

"This is going to take awhile," thought Ryou.

…

…

…

An hour had passed and it had turned out to be the latter when Jaden finally loosened her grip off of Ryou. She had passed out from exhaustion and was now asleep on Ryou's bed…after a few awkward moments of maneuvering Jaden off of himself, Ryou felt oddly vulnerable, now. He just heard his otouto's Aniki cry for a whole hour and he had no clue how to stop her or deal with it. Now he had to go do something to get rid of the lingering feeling in his heart.

Ryou might as well go before Reizo and Taniguchi barge into his room…Reizo _knew_ how to get past the top lock, now! (8) Ryou sighed and made his way towards the door, looking over his shoulder to look at Jaden one more time before he left the room. Afterwards, it was just Jaden and the bed…alone…for about fifteen minutes until an Osiris Red student started to climb the tree just outside Ryou's window…what?

Rei Saotome grunted a bit as he climbed up the tree, making sure to looking around at his surroundings every few seconds as means of being secretive and inconspicuous…the latter being rather difficult due to his red uniform. He stuck out like a sore thumb wearing red in Obelisk Blue territory. Once the coast was clear, Rei continued onwards onto a sturdy branch close by the balcony with an opened door…who the hell leaves their door open? Well, didn't matter for Rei because it just made his job easier.

Rei hopped off the branch and onto the balcony, slowly making his way into the room. He looked around again for any signs of a presence that may blow his cover…so far, nothing. Good…he was now in Ryou Marufuji's room…the same Ryou Marufuji Third-Year Obelisk Blue, also known as Kaiser Ryou. Rei inwardly squeal at the fact and made his way towards the small dresser by the bedside of Ryou's bed.

Rei was very unaware of the unexpected guest in this room that was currently sleeping on Ryou's bed. He was currently too busy searching the drawers for something, stopping when he came across the object of his desire: Ryou's deck case.

Rei opened the deck case and took out a few cards, seeing the familiar Cyber Dragon. After a few moments of staring at them, Rei brought the deck to his cheek and closed his eyes. A light blush tinged his cheeks as he enjoyed the touch of Ryou's deck to his skin.

Rei was too much in ecstasy over the touch of Ryou's deck to hear or notice the slight movement on Ryou's bed, followed by the quiet yawn that came from Jaden as she sat up in bed. She rubbed the back of her head, wincing slightly as she felt a massive headache come on. Her eyes stung and were somewhat still moist. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to recollect what had happened prior to this…too bad her head decided to throb at this moment.

"Augh, my head…" Jaden groaned, clutching her head as she was unaware of the Osiris Red in the room.

It was at that point, Rei took notice that he wasn't exactly alone in the room. Rei looked around before diverting his gaze on Ryou's bed, dropping the deck onto the floor as he saw something that shocked him. Jaden was sitting on Ryou's bed and from the looks of it, he had been asleep…and what was with the current getup? Don't tell him…

"_Jaden's a cross-dresser?"_ thought Rei.

Great, as if getting to Ryou was hard enough, now Rei had a rival…and it was the person he'd just finished making friends with! Rei had no idea how to react with this…in fact, neither did Jaden as he realized that he wasn't exactly alone either…and that this wasn't his room.

"Where am I?" asked Jaden. "Rei…? What are you…doing here?"

Rei's breath hitched as he looked at Jaden, somewhat annoyed.

"Tch, I should be asking you the same thing!" said Rei.

Jaden looked clueless at Rei as she rubbed her eye. "Huh…? Oh…I was supposed to be dueling Kaiser and…"

It was at that moment, Jaden's eyes snapped open and her drowsiness suddenly disappeared. Jaden looked at her surroundings, her hands tightened on the blanket covering her.

"This is Kaiser's room and…!" Jaden trailed off as she looked at the bed she was on. "I'm on Ryou's bed!"

Jaden immediately threw off the blankets covering her as she jumped out of bed, nearly falling onto the ground from the sudden movements she made after just waking up. Equilibrium was not with her just yet as her body had yet to acknowledge that, mentally, she was wide awake. As a result, Jaden didn't last long standing up and ended up topping onto the ground…but not without taking Rei with her! The sudden movement and landing caused Rei's hat to fall off as well as the hairclip that was hidden under said hat, having kept Rei's hair, pinned.

THUD!

Both Jaden and Rei landed on the floor, both now in a slight daze. After a few seconds of this, Jaden was the first to snap out of her daze and looked at Rei to see if the Osiris Red was all right. What she saw instead, surprised her…Rei had long hair.

"So that's what you kept under that hat," said Jaden. "What's wrong with having long hair, Rei?"

Rei snapped out of his daze and blinked, gasping when he noticed stray blue locks of his hair framing her face. He looked around and shrieked when he noticed his hat on the floor as well as his hairclip.

"Rei…?" asked Jaden. "Hello?"

Rei looked back at Jaden, wondering what he thought now that his (Rei's) secret was out.

…

…

…

"I'm gonna ask again," said Jaden. "What's wrong with having long hair?"

Rei blinked a few times as he stared at Jaden. Did he not know of Rei's secret? Did he not realize Rei wasn't really a…Didn't the long hair give it away?

"Okay, I know the long hair makes you look like a girl," said Jaden. "But don't worry about it, you're not the only guy in this Academy that has long hair…just look at Daitokuji-sensei!"

Rei looked at Jaden and sighed in relief…his secret was still safe…now that that was out of the way… "Jaden, why are you cross-dressing?"

Jaden blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes at Rei.

"I'm not…oh, shit," Jaden cursed, her eyes widening as she heard familiar voices just outside the door. "You need to get out of here quick!"

Jaden stood up from the floor and pulled Rei with her. Rei was confused with how Jaden was acting towards him, it was only until he realize what made Jaden worry when he heard talking in the distance…that was getting closer and louder as it approached the door to this room.

"Look, Rei…you have to get out of here!" said Jaden. "They might think you're a spy from the North what with the upcoming school duel! Go! Don't worry about me, I'll be the distraction if you don't have time, now move!"

Jaden pushed Rei towards the balcony door, hoping with all her heart that Rei understood. Rei did, but before complying with Jaden's request, Rei dashed back to pick up his hat. Afterwards, he made his way towards the balcony door.

Laughter was heard just outside the room and Rei's jacket had caught on the door handle. Rei and Jaden's eyes widened in shock as they could already hear the key sliding into the keyhole. Rei tugged on his jacket, trying his hardest to free himself so he could escape via balcony. Jaden's breath hitched as she knew that Rei wouldn't make it in time. Looking around the room quickly, she spotted one of Ryou's jackets and shirts and a plan suddenly popped into mind.

Jaden narrowed her eyes at the thought of the plan because it meant embarrassment for her, but a failsafe way for Rei to escape unnoticed.

"You owe me an explanation for what I'm about to do, Rei!" said Jaden.

Rei looked at Jaden questioningly as he frantically tugged on his jacket. _"What does he mean about that?"_

Rei immediately discarded that thought as he focused his attention on the door handle and his jacket. Crap! How did it end up like this? It would be better if he took off his jacket, but it was already hard enough _WITH_ the jacket to keep his disguise up! Curse the growth that was involved with adolescence! Rei could have _really_ done without it at this point…

Meanwhile with Jaden,

Jaden grabbed a black t-shirt out of Ryou's dresser and ran by the bedside, setting the t-shirt on top of the bed's mattress. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she took off her vest and dropped it down onto the floor. Her breath hitched as her hands gripped the ends of her tank-top. Jaden swallowed her pride…literally, making an audible gulp as she took off her tank-top.

"_Now or never!"_ Jaden thought as she pulled the garment over her head.

Jaden's face was now burning red as she was nearly topless, save for the black sports bra she wore. Jaden really hated herself for this, but if it's to save her roommate, god dammit! She was willing to make the sacrifice!

Jaden dropped the tank-top and used her foot to push the vest and it under the bed. Once they were out of place, by that time, the door was beginning to open. Rei had just managed to free himself of the doorknob, however, he still had to make it out of the room…and get over his shock once his gaze was focused on Jaden.

Jaden looked over at Rei as she picked up the black t-shirt, her face contorting into a scowl as she hissed, "Get out!"

It was there, at that moment, the door was now open and the first thing anyone who opened the door saw, was a nearly topless Jaden, who appeared to be putting on a black t-shirt. Ryou hoped that Jaden at least woke up by now…he had tried his hardest to keep Reizo and Taniguchi from entering the room quickly by slowly (and by slowly, I mean _**slowly **_(9)) opening the door.

Taniguchi just froze into a statue, his mouth agape in shock. Reizo's jaw literally dropped at the sight he saw, which caused Jaden's expression to change from embarrassment to disgust. It was at that moment, to ensure Rei's escape (Rei had just snapped out of it), Jaden forced herself to let out the most _girliest_, high-pitched shriek she could make.

"KYAAAAAAAAA!" shrieked Jaden.

Ryou immediately reacted to that shriek by pulling Reizo and Taniguchi out of the doorway and throwing them into the hallway. Ryou then ran into his room and slammed his door shut, making sure to lock it before turning to Jaden…which he immediately regretted doing so as he came to see what had caused Jaden to shriek.

Ryou covered his eyes with his hand and turned away from Jaden, not caring once that he wasn't facing Jaden to take his hand off his eyes. He was **not** risking it… Jaden was nearly topless, save for the sports bra she wore…dammit! He knew what type of bra she was wearing now!

"Jaden, would you care to explain why you're not wearing a shirt?" asked Ryou.

Jaden didn't answer Ryou's question as she pulled on his t-shirt, her face still red with pure embarrassment. She would never live this one down…especially since Reizo and Taniguchi _saw_…

"I'd…rather not talk about it right now," Jaden said, the top half of her face now turning blue.

Jaden was beyond embarrassment…she was mortified beyond recognition…at least, to herself. Ryou…not so much as he, himself, was flustered. His first time seeing a half-naked girl and it's the girl he respected and acknowledged as both a duelist and his otouto's Aniki…

If Shou ever found out…oh, if he _ever_ found out…

"Please don't ever mention this to anyone…" Jaden said, her voice nearly cracking. "I feel…violated…"

That reminded Ryou…

Ryou removed his hand off his eyes and walked over to the door to unlock it. He exited the room a few moments afterwards (closing the door behind him) to have a little talk with Reizo and Taniguchi. The three of them might never forget the scene they just saw, but Ryou would be damned if he let them blab about it! Forget his reputation (he could save that later since he had a lot of people to back him up)! Jaden was just ogled at by a pair of guys while she was changing her shirt!

Jaden even sounded like she was near her breaking point and with today's earlier incident…Jaden needed all the help she could get. Ryou might as well make up for hearing her cry for an hour by threatening Reizo and Taniguchi to keep this incident secret…

**Or else**…

One lecture later,

Reizo and Taniguchi were trembling with fear by now after hearing Ryou talk to them in a voice they never thought could be so **cold** and _harsh_.

"If I ever hear of this incident from anywhere, including you two…" Ryou said coldly, his expression stoic. "I will hunt you down, no matter where you go… I will kill you…with my bare hands, if I have to…right after torturing you into _insanity_, smashing _**them**_,and then ripping _**them**_ off." (10)

Reizo and Taniguchi weren't able to suppress a whimper that came out of their mouths.

"Do I make myself clear?" Ryou questioned in a voice that demanded an immediate response.

Reizo and Taniguchi rapidly nodded their heads in response, both exclaiming in squeaky voices, "Yes!"

Ryou stared at the two for a full minute, letting the tension rise…

…

…

…

"Get out of my sight," Ryou said darkly.

Reizo and Taniguchi didn't hesitate at all, whatsoever to leave Ryou as they ran down the hallway. Ryou watched as the two disappeared down the hallway before letting out a puff of air. He turned around and faced the door to his room. He waited a few moments before walking in, making sure beforehand that Jaden wasn't shirtless this time by asking. After receiving the word from Jaden, Ryou walked in and close the door behind him.

Jaden, who was currently sitting on Ryou's bed, seemed to have recovered from her ordeal, only because she overheard a bit of Ryou's threatening lecture to Reizo and Taniguchi. Even so, she was still a bit flustered over it. Ryou walked over to Jaden and stopped right in front of the brunette.

"Tell me…what were you doing?" asked Ryou. "And…_why_ is my deck on the floor?"

Jaden's expression immediately went from nervous to plain out anxious. She stuttered a few times before diverting her gaze on the balcony door.

"Well, you see…I better get going!" Jaden said, standing up.

Moments after hopping off the bed, Jaden was about to make her way towards the balcony to escape and avoid answering Ryou's question…except that Ryou wasn't going to let Jaden just _go_.

"Wah!" exclaimed Jaden.

Ryou had just pushed Jaden back onto his bed. Jaden landed flat on Ryou's bed, somewhat shocked with the sudden action and perplexed with what caused Ryou to act like this. It took Jaden a few moments to realize that she was face-to-face with Ryou…and that Ryou was straddling her. He held himself up by placing his knees and hands on either side of her, his expression showing that he was obviously not amused with her attempt to avoid the question.

"Uh…?" Jaden said as a small bead of sweat rolled down the side.

Jaden could feel her heart beating faster within her chest. The look on Ryou's face scared her…and crap! She was trapped! Oh, god…what…what was he going to do? Jaden knew what Ryou was possible of after hearing his threatening lecture and…oh god, no… Jaden's eyes widened in fear.

"Oh, god, don't kill me!" exclaimed Jaden. "I don't wanna die!"

Ryou blinked a few times as he looked down at Jaden and sweat dropped. He was glad he locked the door, if not…the person who might've walked in would take this current situation the wrong way, what with the somewhat compromising position he and Jaden were in.

"Jaden…I'm not going to kill you," said Ryou. "I just want an explanation and seeing as this managed to keep you from escaping…and you using your self-defense on me, sorry for this…"

Jaden just stared at Ryou, wide-eyed. "Please get off me…"

"Not until you answer my question," said Ryou. "You nearly broke down again because those two saw you in your sports bra—"

"How did you know it was a sports bra?" asked Jaden.

Ryou scowled at Jaden as he somehow managed to suppress a blush that wanted to tinge his cheeks. "That's beside the point. I'm not getting off you until you answer me…kick me and I'll tell Daitokuji-sensei about the balcony jump."

Jaden clenched her teeth and groaned. "Why is everyone using that against me? It was just a simple jump! I could easily do the same with this balcony!"

"No, you cannot," said Ryou. "Unlike the girl's Obelisk Blue Dorm, there is no lake."

"I'll punch you if you don't get off me," said Jaden.

Too bad Ryou decided to pin Jaden's hands above her head at that moment. That pretty much made Jaden's threat very useless.

"You were saying?" said Ryou.

Jaden scowled at Ryou, who looked _somewhat_ amused.

"You know you're making this harder than it should be," said Ryou. "I'll get off you once you tell me why my deck…is on the ground…and _why_ were you putting on one of my shirts when you and I both know, that you were wearing a shirt earlier?"

Jaden's eye twitched slightly with Ryou's very assertive behavior. She never knew the guy could be like this…it kinda bugged her.

"I-It's a long story," said Jaden. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it, it's quite…boring."

Ryou lowered his face to Jaden's and said, "Try me."

He was dead right serious…he wasn't going to take no for an answer! The Kaiser wanted an explanation! At that moment, Jaden felt something within her snap.

"You're acting out of character, Kaiser!" exclaimed Jaden. "Don't make this scene anymore awkward!" (11)

Ryou arched his brow at Jaden, who was currently ranting.

"I'm having a hard time trying to think of an excuse to _why_ your deck was on the floor!" Jaden said, admitting she was planning on making up an excuse. "I _seriously_ don't know why it's there because when I woke up, it was _already_ on the ground! My roommate was in your room for some odd reason and I had to help him out to avoid you, Reizo, and Taniguchi catching him!"

Jaden's eyes widened as she gasped, just realizing that she just blurted out pretty much everything that she wanted to _keep_ secret. So much for her sacrifice…now that was in vain…

"What was that?" asked Ryou.

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she quickly said, "Nothing!"

"Jaden, I'm not falling for that," said Ryou. "Your roommate…why was he in my room?"

"I don't know!" wailed Jaden. "I just woke up and he was just there! Now let me go! I'm just an innocent bystander who just got thrown into the whole situation by trying to keep my roommate from being caught! Waaah!"

Ryou blinked a few times and sighed. It took Jaden up until now for her to just give a simple answer…really, now?

"You're really stubborn, you know?" said Ryou. "Okay, one last question…"

Jaden blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes at Ryou.

"Get off me, or I'll scream," Jaden said darkly. "I'll do it…I'll even charge you for harassment!"

Ryou sweat dropped at that statement. "Do you even have proof?"

…

…

…

"Shit," swore Jaden. "I hate you…"

"Well, I don't necessarily hate you," said Ryou. "But I wouldn't say that I like you, either…it's more respect than like. You take care of my younger brother and look after him…that's enough to earn my respect and, by the way…thank you for being his surrogate older brother."

Jaden blinked and laughed nervously as she said, "About that…"

Ryou arched his brow at Jaden. "Go on…"

"He's actually older than me…" said Jaden. "My birthday is at least five months away…I mixed up my own birthday with my mom's."

"I don't think that changes your role as Shou's Aniki, much," said Ryou. "You already ignore your own gender, now it's your own age…you really are one interesting person."

Jaden let out a puff of air and looked at Ryou. "So…what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

"Tadao…what happened between you and him?" asked Ryou. "You freaked out…that's very unlike you."

Jaden scowled at Ryou…what did he know?

"Shut up!" snapped Jaden. "You don't know me!"

Ryou was taken aback with Jaden's outburst, but kept his composure. He just looked at Jaden and sighed.

"You're right…I don't know you," said Ryou. "…which is why I'm asking you to enlighten me. Tell me what I don't know about you that you want me to know."

"Can you give me back my hands, first?" asked Jaden.

Ryou blinked and nodded as he released his grip on Jaden's hands. Jaden sighed and rubbed her wrists…Kaiser sure had a strong grip…and he was only using one hand!

"_Is he really that strong…or am I just small?" _thought Jaden. "Okay, now can you get off me?"

"No," said Ryou. "You still haven't told me…"

Jaden let out an aggravated groan.

A few moments later,

"Bullied?" Ryou repeated, somewhat confused.

Jaden nodded. "I was bullied as a kid…"

"That explains the self-defense…" said Ryou.

"It does…" said Jaden. "You know Tadao? He was one of my childhood bullies and the only one I had yet to confront because he moved away, for various reasons involving me. He would hold me back as the rest of my bullies proceeded to hit me…"

Ryou blinked and decided now was a good time as any to finally get off of Jaden…which he did. Jaden sat up moments afterwards, but showed no interest in taking the chance to escape. All she did was look down and hugged herself. Ryou could tell she wasn't comfortable with this, but that didn't stop her from continuing.

"I used to have long hair as a kid," said Jaden.

"What happened?" asked Ryou.

Jaden inhaled and exhaled. "Tadao had a pair of scissors and cut my hair…I couldn't do anything about it… From that day on, I decided to never let my hair grow out…over the years, I grew to like my haircut, so I never let it grow…even after he moved away."

"What happened?" asked Ryou. "Why did he have to move away?"

Jaden blinked and looked down as she brought her right knee to her chest. She propped her chin onto her knee as she wrapped her arms around her right leg.

"You see this leg?" asked Jaden. "Have I ever told you that I knew Kouyou Hibiki?"

Ryou was slightly surprised to hear about Jaden's affiliation with the three-time Duel Monsters Champion.

"Yes, _that_ Kouyou Hibiki, if you're wondering," said Jaden. "I met him in the hospital I was staying in when I broke my right leg playing baseball. I guess…I would have to at least thank Tadao for that…"

Ryou arched his brow at Jaden. "Why?"

"I wouldn't have taken up an interest in Duel Monsters…" said Jaden. "…if I hadn't met Kouyou Hibiki in the hospital…"

Ryou's eyes widened in shock when he heard Jaden say, "I would have never met Kouyou Hibiki…if Tadao had not broken my leg."

"What happened?" asked Ryou.

Jaden blinked a few times and let out a puff of air. "I took an interest in baseball when I was in elementary school. I would usually play it with my friends…I was their pitcher. When I got roped into joining the school team…that's when everything went wrong."

Ryou arched his brow at Jaden. "Hold on…how did you join the team if you're a girl?"

Jaden laughed awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Remember how I managed to get registered into Duel Academy as a male student?" asked Jaden. "Ehehe…that gender mishap involving the unfilled box…"

"They filled that out for you and everyone thought you were male?" said Ryou.

Jaden grinned and pumped her fist into the air. "Bingo!"

"From what I know from Asuka, it was definitely not the first time…right?" asked Ryou.

Jaden blinked and lightly scratched the side of her head with her index finger.

"Actually, that was around one of the first times it began," said Jaden. "I think my Elementary School registration was the first."

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Ryou's face. "I get the feeling your father is to blame for that…"

Jaden blinked and glared at Ryou. "Hey! Don't bring my father into this! It's not his fault he was busy trying to support me after becoming a single parent! I'm all he has left…"

Ryou looked at Jaden, noticing her now somber expression. "What happened to your mother?"

Jaden ran her hand through her hair and sighed. "I…rather not talk about it…so, where was I?"

"You were telling me about getting roped into your Elementary School's baseball team…"

Jaden blinked and nodded. "That's right! I started getting bullied when I became the team's pitcher!"

Jaden crossed her arms and closed her eyes as she let out a puff of air. "Jealous punks…"

Ryou arched his brow at Jaden. "How…old were you?"

Jaden opened one eye at Ryou and replied, "Seven."

While Ryou's expression didn't show it, there was no doubt that the Kaiser was shocked.

"That young?" questioned Ryou.

Jaden looked at Ryou and frowned. "Don't judge me!"

"I'm not," said Ryou. "I'm just saying isn't that a little too young?"

Jaden closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'll have you know that the coach didn't give a damn about that…Though it did give part of the team a reason to pick on me…and I did have the unfortunate luck to have gotten the position Tadao wanted…"

"So all this over a stupid pitching position?" asked Ryou.

"May I remind you that this was back in Elementary School?" questioned Jaden. "Children are prone to do at least one stupid thing in their whole life."

Ryou blinked and recalled the incident with Shou and Power Bond. "You have a point there."

Jaden nodded her head and added, "I just had the unfortunate luck of receiving the bad end of that stupidity…bullying. I got pelted with baseballs, got one pitched into my stomach by the pitching machine, and got beat up after practice once everyone left…"

"Where was your father?" asked Ryou.

"Looking for a job…" said Jaden. "Stop bringing him in! It wasn't his fault! I was the one who kept it from him because I didn't want to get pulled out of baseball! Let's move on and after this…I'm going back to my dorm…at least, can I, Kaiser?"

Ryou nodded and replied, "You already answered most of my questions and you pretty much filled me in certain aspects of your life. I'd say this is a good start in getting to know you better."

Jaden clasped her hands together and smiled. "Great! Let's be friends."

"Don't get smart with me," said Ryou.

"My bad…" Jaden said, laughing nervously afterwards. "But seriously, let's be friends…we've known each other, for like, what? A few days now…we talk a lot during our duels…"

"That reminds me…we're going to have to reschedule our duel," said Ryou. "No thanks to today's earlier incident."

Jaden turned away from Ryou in a huff. "My bad for breaking down thanks to a childhood tormentor who broke my leg by throwing a baseball at it!"

"Explain," said Ryou.

"Well, we were only a few games into the season," Jaden began. "It was during practice or something, whatever it was…Tadao had finally snapped and threw a baseball at my leg, which by the way, hurt like hell."

"So Tadao broke your leg with a baseball?" said Ryou.

"If that didn't do it, then it was the landing I had when I fell into a ditch behind me after getting hit," said Jaden. "All I know is that I have to thank Tadao for setting up the chain of events that got me to meet Kouyou Hibiki and take up an interest in Duel Monsters…okay, enough about me! Next time we meet for a duel, it's _your_ turn to open up!"

"We'll see about that," said Ryou.

Ignoring Ryou, Jaden hopped off his bed and walked over to the balcony door. Ryou diverted his eyes on Jaden and cleared his throat, hoping to catch the Osiris Red's attention…he did.

"The door's over there, Jaden," said Ryou.

Jaden blinked and laughed as she rubbed the back of her head.

"R-Right!" she said.

Jaden turned around and made her way towards the door. Ryou just looked at her and shook his head.

"Sorry about everything!" said Jaden. "I didn't mean for today to end up like this!"

Ryou just closed his eyes and shook his head as Jaden left the room.

Today had definitely been…an interesting day…

Asuka was going to be hearing about this, seeing as she most likely wanted to know why Jaden was crying.

"I should pick up my deck off the floor, first," said Ryou.

A few moments after getting of his bed, Ryou arched his brow at what he found on the floor right next to his deck and a few scattered cards. It was a hairclip with a cutesy animal design on it…how peculiar…

Ryou was definitely going to have to have a meeting with Asuka at lighthouse, seeing as it was better to meet up then just talk over it via PDA. He had to show her this hairclip in person…(12)

* * *

Later…IN THE TOOLSHED!

A/N Okay, there! I said it! Narrator wants his watermelon, pronto! DX

Rei had just made his way back to the Osiris Red dorm sometime after thinking over today's incident involving Jaden. He was sure his eyes weren't deceiving him when he saw that Jaden was wearing a bra, which meant!

"_Jaden is a pervert…"_ thought Rei. _"But why a sports bra?"_

You'd think someone who cross-dresses would go for something lacy and stylish when it came to undergarments…but a sports bra? If Rei didn't know any better, Jaden wasn't actually a boy at all, but just a very tomboyish girl. Rei snorted at the thought.

"_Pfft, as if!"_ thought Rei. "Huh? It's open…"

Rei had expected to have come to a locked door when he stopped in front of Jaden's room. Meaning…

"_I could take a bath, now!"_ thought Rei.

Rei wanted to get that over with, right now! The faster he took a bath, the better…at least, in his opinion, especially since he just landed in a muddy puddle moments after getting down the tree, having barely escaped. That was seriously too close…

Meanwhile in the bathhouse,

Jaden was currently scrubbing her hair as she sat on a small stool within her bathhouse, just in front of the water faucet.

"Stupid mud puddle…" she muttered.

Jaden ended up falling into a mud puddle when she ended up tripping over a tree root on the way back to the Osiris Red dorms. Luckily for her, at least this was better than falling into a thorn bush. Jaden shuddered at the memory before reaching for the bucket next to her. She set the bucket under the tap and turned on the hot water faucet, waiting a bit before turning it off and turning on the cold water faucet to balance out the temperature of the water. Afterwards, Jaden closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before dumping the bucket of water over her head, washing off the shampoo in her hair.

Jaden shook her head afterwards as she let out a, "Fwaa!"

That felt good…now what to do when Ryou finds out she managed to stain his shirt…

"Gah, I'll deal with that later," said Jaden.

With that said, Jaden stood up from her seat and grabbed the towel hanging on the rack on the wall. She had just wrapped the towel around herself, tying a small knot to the side to keep it in place when, suddenly, the door slid open and lo and behold, there was Rei, holding a towel to his chest.

Jaden and Rei stared at each other, neither saying anything as a moment of mutual silence ensued.

Meanwhile…WITHIN THE TOOLSHED!

Shou and Hayato had been dueling each other in the past hour. So far, Hayato was having trouble getting past Shou's Vehicroid deck.

"Honestly, flat-chest makes defeating you look easy," said Hayato.

Shou blinked a few times and scowled at Hayato. "Oi!"

At that moment, a pair of high-pitched girly shrieks suddenly penetrated through the somewhat thick walls of the dorm, scaring the crap out of Hayato and Shou as it shrieked, "KYAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Aagh!" exclaimed Shou.

THUD!

Hayato fell onto his back from the shock. He blinked a few times and said, "What's going on? What's with the girly shriek?"

**DOT DOT DOT…**

_Girly_ shriek…

Realization hit both Shou and Hayato like a truck as they realized that their roommate was _female_. And the shriek seemed to have come from Jaden's room, possibly meaning…

"Aniki!" Shou exclaimed as he immediately got off the ground and ran out of the room like a madman.

Hayato followed soon after, yelling out, "Jaden!"

Hayato found Shou pounding on Jaden's door, having found the door to the room, locked.

* * *

Back in the bathhouse,

After getting over the shock and finding out that Rei had one hell of a girly voice when he wanted to, Jaden blinked a few times as she stared at Rei and noticed something…

Rei had curves…and not just any typical curves, but _feminine_ curves…which meant!

"You're a girl?" exclaimed Jaden.

Jaden took the words right out of Rei's mouth and due to the shock of realizing that first person who not only uncovered his, or rather, _her_ secret…_also_ had one.

"You didn't know?" asked Rei. "Didn't the long hair give it away?"

"Long hair does _nothing_!" Jaden countered. "And is this something Daitokuji-sensei was meaning to tell me?"

"You?" asked Rei. "What about me? You…you're a girl?"

"According to my fixed registration form of this school…I'm female, so yeah," said Jaden. "Used to be male, but a call from my father fixed that at day one…same with you?"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Rei's face as she lightly scratched her cheek with her index finger.

"Uh…" she said.

THUD!

Rei and Jaden nearly screamed at the sudden noise that seemed to be coming from the door… The two peered out of the doorway into the room, their gaze focused on the door…which was currently being banged on…or rather, being kicked.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Aniki!" yelled Shou's voice.

KNOCK!

"Jaden!" yelled Hayato's voice. "What's going on? I'm gonna kick this door down if you don't say anything!"

Jaden's eyes widened at that statement as she looked at Rei, who was wide-eyed as well.

"They can't find out I'm a girl!" said Rei. "Not yet!"

Jaden blinked a few times as she stared at Rei, her attention diverting back on the door when she noticed the force against it seemed to have increased. Stuttering a bit, Jaden pushed Rei into the bathhouse and closed herself out, which, at that current moment, the door was knocked down onto the floor.

Shou and Hayato barged right into the room, not caring once about Jaden's privacy just yet as they were concerned with why Jaden screamed.

"Aniki, are you all right?" asked Shou.

Hayato nodded as he added, "We heard a… scream?"

Hayato trailed off as he and Shou noticed that their female roommate wasn't exactly dressed appropriately, as she was just wearing a towel. Jaden stared at her roommates wide-eyed, her hands still on the doorknob on the door that Rei was currently behind wearing a perplexed expression on her face.

Jaden's face burned red as she let out yet another high-pitched, girly shriek that topped the other two shrieks she let out today. It was enough to have been heard throughout the island as the sound echoed out.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" shrieked Jaden.

Shou and Hayato's face were as red as Jaden's as they tried to grasp the context of the situation. They just knocked down Jaden's door and walked in on their towel-clad female roommate…

"Oh, shit!" yelled Hayato.

"Oh, shit" was right! Before Shou and Hayato could do anything, someone ran by them, pushing them apart to get by to see what was wrong with the situation. It was Daitokuji…and he was very concerned with the shrieks he just heard. Not even a second had passed before Daitokuji had figured out the reason for this whole ordeal…unfortunately, he _saw_.

Daitokuji face turned red as he backed up a few steps, but he kept his composure as he turned to Shou and Hayato.

"Marufuji-kun!" he exclaimed. "Maeda-kun! What have I told you about sexually harassing your female roommate!"

Oh, Daitokuji was definitely angry…one, Jaden's door was knocked down and two, Hayato and Shou just barged in on Jaden while she was in…in…_this_. Daitokuji wasted no time in dragging Hayato and Shou out the room. Afterwards, he picked up the door and placed it back to where it as, adjusting it a few times so it wouldn't fall back down so easily.

Jaden stared at the door, agape. She had no idea that Daitokuji was able to get _so_ angry! But on the hindsight…Jaden exhaled and fell onto her knees, somewhat relieved that that was over with… I mean, it could have been worse…her towel could have fallen off.

"_Why did I just think that…?"_ Jaden thought as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Are you okay?" asked Rei.

Jaden opened one eye to look at a towel-clad Rei, who was standing under the doorway, having just opened the door.

"You look…flustered," said Rei.

Jaden closed her eye and sighed. "My friends and sensei just saw me wearing nothing but a towel…you do the math."

Rei's face turned red as she stuttered. "S-S-Sorry!"

Jaden waved her hand at Rei. "That's okay…I'll get over it eventually. By the way, you really owe me an explanation! I took a risk keeping your gender secret by locking you in the bathhouse! The door was knocked down moments afterwards!"

Rei's eyes widened as she just realized that Jaden helped her out yet again. "T-Thank you!"

Jaden just nodded.

"Yuki-kun!" Daitokuji's voice called out.

Jaden and Rei turned to the door across the room.

"What happened-nya?" asked Daitokuji's voice.

Jaden blinked a few times, her eyes widening as she exclaimed, "Oh, not—oh my god! There is a huge spider in my bathhouse!"

* * *

Outside Jaden's room,

Daitokuji nodded at the answer, having found some sense as to why Jaden was screaming. The spiders on Duel Academy Island were rather huge… Jaden probably had arachnophobia or some type of it that made her freak out around spiders. Considering how big the spiders were on this island (as mentioned before), it would make anyone freak out if they just found one crawling around their bathhouse.

Daitokuji turned to face his currently red-faced students, Hayato Maeda and Shou Marufuji.

"Knocking down Yuki-kun's door…" said Daitokuji.

"We were just worried about Aniki…" Shou said sheepishly.

Hayato nodded in agreement. Daitokuji looked at Shou and Hayato, sighing and crossing his arms.

"Don't _ever_ let it happen again-nya," said Daitokuji. "Do you have _any_ idea what would happen if Yuki-kun's father found out about this?"

Hayato and Shou looked at each other before looking back at Daitokuji, both shrugging.

"He has connections…" said Daitokuji. "You would most likely have been taken to court for that-nya. Now that you know…knock first, wait for an answer, and _then_ knock down the door. Understand-nya?"

Hayato and Shou nodded their heads. They were probably not going to live this one down…but if Hayato managed to _somehow_ forget the incident involving his Imouto-chan not wearing a bra, he might forget about this incident…one of these days.

"Oh, if you so happen to make a flat-chest comment aimed towards Yuki-kun after this during the week, Maeda-kun…" said Daitokuji. "You'll be seeing me in detention for sexual harassment. I know you're just acting like an older brother to her, but after this, it would now be considered harassment-nya. Wait a few days…a week or two, before going back to that nickname."

Hayato didn't hesitate to nod at that statement. He knew Daitokuji could be very vengeful, having heard the rumors about the Obelisk Blue students who beat up Jaden. Let's just say, Daitokuji gave them _hell_ in detention…

* * *

Back in the room,

Rei and Jaden listened carefully, both letting out a loud sigh in relief once Daitokuji, Hayato, and Shou had left.

"Thank you, Jaden…" said Rei. "You've done so much for me today…I don't know how to repay you."

Jaden was still looking wide-eyed at something that seemed to be behind Rei. Rei arched her brow at Jaden.

"What's wrong?" asked Rei.

"I wasn't kidding about that spider…" Jaden said, her voice almost shaky.

A cold shiver when up Rei's spine as she slowly turned around, her hands going to her mouth as she muffled a shriek at the sight of a huge spider in the corner of the ceiling. Dear Ra, Jaden was right about the spider…it was _huge_, about the size of their hand, at least. Suddenly, the spider moved to the left a bit, causing Jaden and Rei to both let out a moderately frightened shriek.

"Eww, it moved!" exclaimed Rei.

Rei ran out of the doorway, behind Jaden. The two backed up as the spider crawled down the ceiling…and made its way towards them!

"God damn irony!" shouted Jaden. "Where's my shoe?"

Rei hid behind Jaden, her hands gripping the brunette's shoulders. "Don't let it near me!"

"Let me go and I can go kill it!" said Jaden.

Rei shook her head.

"But I'm…scared!" said Rei. "Well…I'm more disgusted at how—oh, god, eww! It moved again!"

Jaden wasn't necessarily frightened of spiders…she was just grossed out with how creepily they _moved_. Rei seemed to share this trait with her…

"Let me get my shoe…" said Jaden. "The sooner I kill that thing, the better!"

"Eww, eww, eww, it moved again!" shrieked Rei.

"Get back here, dammit!" yelled Jaden. "I just want to smash you!"

One grossed out, freak out moment and a dead, smashed spider later,

"Care to explain to me why you're washing my hair?" asked Rei.

"Because it's long," Jaden said as a matter-of-factly.

Rei narrowed her eyes as Jaden continued to run her fingers gently through her long, blue hair, working the shampoo into a rich lather. Rei could tell Jaden was enjoying this by the manner the brunette was treating her hair.

"Okay, now spill," said Jaden. "I already told you that you owe me an explanation."

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Rei's face.

* * *

Elsewhere,

Ryou waited patiently by the lighthouse, staring out at the horizon as the sun began to set. The sky began to darken as sun soon disappeared beyond the horizon. It was at that moment, Asuka walked into view, stopping next to Ryou.

"It's rare to have you hall me over here," said Asuka. "Any new information?"

"No," replied Ryou. "Today, I wanted to talk to you."

Asuka blinked once and asked, "Is it about why Jaden was crying?"

"Actually, yes, it is…" said Ryou. "The reason why she broke down…she had an encounter with Tadao."

Asuka arched her brow at the name. "The Obelisk Blue who repeated the First Year twice and is close to having to repeat his Second Year as well?"

Tadao wasn't the brightest person around at age seventeen, almost eighteen. If it wasn't for Shuichi (Shuichi was his cousin), Tadao would have been demoted all the way down to Osiris Red.

Ryou nodded. "The very same…"

"What happened?" asked Asuka.

Ryou diverted his eyes on Asuka. "Do you recall Jaden ever telling you she had bullies?"

Asuka blinked and nodded.

"Momoe told me about one of her encounters," said Asuka. "Jaden used to have long hair until one of her bullies cut it short."

"That was Tadao," said Ryou. "Did you know Jaden knows Kouyou Hibiki?"

Asuka nodded. "Yeah, she met him when she broke her leg playing baseball. Kouyou was the reason Jaden even became a duelist."

Ryou wasn't surprised that Asuka already knew that, but the way she answered…told him she didn't know the whole story.

"Did she ever tell you how she broke her leg playing baseball?" asked Ryou. "And did you notice she said, 'baseball'?"

Now that Asuka thought about it, Jaden never did explain how she broke her leg.

A few minutes later,

Asuka's eyes were wide from shock at what she had just heard.

"That's…just too cruel!" said Asuka. "She was only seven…!"

"And for that reason, she was picked on," said Ryou. "According to Jaden, this was around the time she started getting registered as a male student."

Asuka crossed her arms and looked down.

"So that's how she stayed on the team…" thought Asuka. "Is she okay?"

"She's feeling better after telling me," said Ryou. "Now, moving on to what I wanted to talk to you."

Asuka arched her brow at Ryou. "Someone like the 'Kaiser' is concerned about something?"

Ryou just took out the hairclip he found in his room earlier. The hairclip gleamed from the small ray of lighting that came off the lighthouse. Asuka looked at the hairclip questioningly.

"A girl's hairclip?" she questioned.

* * *

Sometime later,

Jaden and Rei stood at the bottom of the seaside cliff just by the Osiris Red dorms. A lot of things happened around the seaside pathway. Dueling with Shou to learn the build of his deck for when he and Jaden were preparing for their Tag-Duel…

"_Good times,"_ Jaden thought as she looked out at the horizon with Rei.

The two had decided to discuss about today's incident once they calmed down about the spider in the bathhouse. Jaden wasn't embarrassed anymore, but rather…enraged since her door was knocked down.

Jaden had helped Rei with her long hair by tying it with a light orange ribbon. The ribbon belonged to Jaden and was long enough to keep Rei's hair under her hat, though the ribbon's ends stuck out of the head just behind Rei's head.

…

"So, why did you help me out?" asked Rei. "You kept me from being discovered twice…"

Jaden blinked and looked at Rei. "A girl dressing up as a guy, and coming to a place like this…sounds like something out of one of Momoe's shoujo manga…what was it called?"

Rei arched her brow at Jaden and suggested, "_Hana-Kimi_?"

Jaden snapped her fingers and nodded. "Yeah! That's the name!" (13)

Rei frowned.

"Please don't compare my situation to that series…" said Rei. "This isn't an all-boys school, you know…"

Jaden just stared at Rei. "Anyways, I'm sure you have your reasons for this…registration mishap?"

Rei looked at Jaden sheepishly. "Actually…that's part of it…"

Jaden placed her hand on her head in slight annoyance.

"Did the lady fill in your gender box on the application because she was in a hurry?" asked Jaden. "Because that's what she did to me and I ended up being registered as a male student…even though I don't mind, I find it annoying that she did it to someone else."

Rei laughed awkwardly as she twiddled her fingers around.

"Actually, um…that's was my fault," said Rei. "I was in a hurry to turn in the application because I was running late and I filled in the wrong box, so…"

"This happened?" said Jaden.

Rei looked down and replied, "Yes…"

Jaden blinked a few times and sighed as she placed her hand on Rei's shoulder. "It's okay…If you want, you can stay with me while we fix your gender mishap with Samejima-san…once you feel comfortable discussing the subject, that is."

Rei stared at Jaden, somewhat surprised by the Osiris Red's offer. Jaden…was definitely an interesting person, but Rei liked that. Jaden was nice…and reasonable! Just the type of friend Rei had always been looking for…

"_Where have you been all my life…"_ thought Rei. "Jaden!"

Jaden looked at Rei questioningly. "What?"

"Can we be…friends?" Rei asked, a slight blush tingeing her cheeks. She was slightly embarrassed and hoped that her overeager anticipation didn't show through.

Rei hoped with all her heart that Jaden would say 'yes' because after everything that happened…Rei wouldn't be that surprised for Jaden to reject her offer.

"Uh…sure!" Jaden said, scratching her head as she wondered what was that about. "I thought we already settled this yesterday when I referred to you as a friend…"

Rei blinked a few times and smiled as she threw herself into Jaden and wrapped her arms around the gender-mistaken girl's waist. "Thank you!"

Jaden stared at Rei questioningly, blinking owlishly as she slowly brought her hand on Rei's head.

"No problem," said Jaden. "By the way…I've been meaning to ask…What exactly were you doing in Ryou's room?"

Rei was taken aback with Jaden's question and immediately distanced herself from her.

"You didn't…tell anyone, did you?" Rei asked anxiously.

Jaden frowned as she placed her hands on Rei's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, but Ryou forced an answer out of me!" wailed Jaden. "I was trying to avoid the answer, but he wouldn't let me go! Please understand that I didn't do this intentionally! It was either that, or have Ryou probably kill me!"

Rei's eyes widened in shock at what she heard. "Please tell me you didn't tell him my name…"

Jaden let out a puff of air. "I didn't give a name, but I did specifically say it was my roommate…"

Rei let out a mushroom sigh in relief. "That's good…"

"It is…" said Jaden. "So…would you care to explain why you were in his room this afternoon, though?"

Rei's face turned red as she knew the answer, but she wasn't willing to tell it to Jaden.

"I'd…rather not," said Rei.

Jaden frowned as she knelt down and took off the blue-gray backpack she was wearing. She opened the backpack and began to look through it as she searched for something she needed for this situation. Rei didn't look like she was willing to explain her motives, so Jaden decided to make it easier for the two of them.

"You know, when you ask someone for help, you should really explain why, first…" Jaden remarked as she continued to look through the backpack. "I mean, I'm just asking you to give me a simple answer…"

Rei held up her tightened fists as she snapped, "I can't!"

Jaden smiled as she found what she was looking for. She closed her eyes and turned to Rei, holding out a duel disk to her.

"Then, let's duel!" said Jaden.

Dueling made everything easier! At least, in Jaden's opinion and she wasn't willing to change outlook.

Rei looked at Jaden, perplexed. Jaden was taking this easier than she thought he-er, _she_, would…

"Why would I do that?" asked Rei. "And stop using 'ore'! You're a girl!"

Jaden frowned at Rei. "Tch, you're just like Junko and Momoe…"

Ignoring that, Jaden stood up and faced Rei.

"The reason why you would do that is simple," explained Jaden. "Nobody can lie in a duel."

Rei stared at Jaden, finding that explanation reasonable.

"So, you're saying that you'll quit asking me about that if I win?" asked Rei. "No more questions asked about it, either?"

Jaden nodded. "Yeah, since I won't need to ask anything."

Unbeknownst to Jaden and Rei, Hayato and Shou were watching the two from at the edge of the cliff behind the dorm. The two were peering out from the edge as they lied on their stomachs, trying to stay unnoticed. Hayato and Shou had listened to the whole thing, no thanks to their curiosity.

It was quite strange for Rei to have walked out of Jaden's room with Jaden, herself, by his side… If Hayato and Shou recalled (unfortunately), Jaden was alone in her room, having freaked out because of a huge spider in her bathhouse that had caused her to shriek a few times before killing it. It was quite hard to ignore that and the only reason Hayato and Shou knew of this was because they heard Jaden's door fall down. Jaden had hoped nobody had heard that…

So that pretty much explains as to why Shou and Hayato were there. The two were very much surprised with what they discovered about their new roommate.

"That Rei was a girl?" Shou said in a somewhat quiet voice.

Hayato stared wide-eyed at Rei. "That explains why Rei felt uncomfortable around you when you tried to take off your shirt…it wasn't just Jaden…I wonder what they meant when they talked about what happened in Ryou's room…"

Shou wondered that as well because that meant that both his Aniki and Rei were in his Onii-san's room. Though, Jaden's proposition to avoid an explanation from Rei…

"He's the same as always, but to duel right off the bat…" said Shou.

"That's something Jaden would do," said a very familiar feminine voice.

Hayato and Shou turned to see who it was. Standing right behind them, were Ryou, who had his arms crossed, and Asuka, who had her left hand on her hip. Asuka looked very amused, as noted by the smile on her face. Ryou…his expression was stoic as ever, which was normal of him…save for what happened this afternoon to have caused him to lose his stoic composure for a bit. Moving on…

"One's nature is revealed in a duel, even reflecting that person's heart," explained Ryou.

"He said he wouldn't need to ask questions, too," added Asuka.

Shou and Hayato just stared at Ryou and Asuka, both saying, "Ehhhh…?"

"Who would've thought dueling is that profound?" said Shou.

"Duel!" exclaimed a pair of voices.

Shou and Hayato's heads quickly turned, their attention focused on the two gender-mistaken girls. Jaden and Rei were facing each other from opposite ends, their duel disks on their left arms and five cards in their hands.

Rei:

LP

4000

Jaden:

LP

4000

"It's my turn, draw!" Rei said, drawing a card. She had only glanced at her card before setting it into place. "I summon Maiden in Love!"

Jaden arched her brow at the name of the monster Rei had just summoned. It was only until the Maiden in Love appeared on the field when Jaden found some sense with the name.

A young, beautiful girl with fair skin appeared on the field. She had long, flowing auburn-colored hair and wore a pink headband with big, pink bows at the ends. She wore a modest, but elegant-looking, long-sleeved dress with a long, graceful skirt with a white, lacey hem. The dress was mostly deep saffron in color, save for some pink-colored patterns adorning the skirt and a white decorative pattern encircling the center area of the skirt.

Pearl earrings dangled from the girl's ears and a choker with a small bow adorned her neck. The choker and bow was the same color as the girl's dress. A simple, green gem decorated the bow's tie. The girl wore white stockings and a pair of pink shoes with pink bows around her ankles.

With long and thick black eyelashes, full, pink lips, and rosy cheeks, the girl was no doubt a beauty. Her eyes were closed as she kept her hands clasped over her chest.

ATK 400

Moments after her ATK was shown, the Maiden opened her eyes, revealing the biggest, most gorgeous-looking gray eyes Jaden has ever seen. The Maiden in Love reminded Jaden very much of a fairytale princess in both clothing and appearance.

The Maiden in Love looked at Jaden with her big, gray eyes and smiled. Jaden just blinked a few times, causing the Maiden in Love to give a cutesy laugh.

"I think she likes you," Rei said, smiling at Jaden.

"She's gorgeous!" Jaden suddenly blurted out. "She's just like the embodiment of a fairytale princess!"

The Maiden in Love blushed at Jaden's outburst, her cheeks now a beautiful rosy shade of red.

* * *

Meanwhile at the top of the cliff,

Asuka was laughing quietly, having found Jaden's reaction to Rei's Duel Monster quite amusing. Ryou had a small smile on his face, having found Jaden's reaction amusing, as well. Hayato just stared at the Maiden in Love. As for Shou…

"Whoa, she's cute!" exclaimed Shou.

Hayato blinked and diverted his eyes on Shou, obviously not amused with Shou's reaction. It was Dark Magician Girl all over again…

"_Here we go again…"_ thought Hayato.

* * *

Back with Jaden and Rei,

"I'll finish my turn!" said Rei.

Jaden diverted her gaze on her deck as she reached for her deck.

"My turn!" she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Jaden held the card she drew next to her hand. It was Elemental Hero Avian's card that she had finished drawing. Taking a quick look over her hand, Jaden decided whom she was going to start with.

"I summon Elemental Hero Avian in Attack mode!" she exclaimed, holding out Avian's card.

Elemental Hero Avian appeared on the field, poised for battle.

ATK 1000

"We're battling!" said Jaden.

A small smiled formed on Rei's lips as she said, "Oh, my…that fast?"

Jaden didn't notice the suggestive tone Rei spoke in and was completely oblivious to what she had meant.

* * *

Shou felt quite sorry for the Maiden in Love since her ATK was no match for Avian's. And she had just been summoned…

"This won't even be a match…" Shou said, pouting. (14)

"Just who are you rooting for?" Hayato asked, somewhat annoyed with Shou's infatuation with the Maiden in Love.

Asuka smiled. "Still, women change when they're in love."

* * *

Back to the duel,

"Feather Break!" exclaimed Jaden.

Avian used his wings to create a powerful gale aimed at the Maiden in Love. The Maiden in Love did nothing but stand there, her expression quite fearful. She shielded herself with her hands as her skirt flowed in the wind. Maiden in Love let out the most feminine, high-pitched shriek she could make that reminded both Rei and Jaden of the ones they made earlier. Rei clenched her teeth as she endured her monster's shriek and her life point loss. All would be worth it afterwards…

Rei:

LP

3400

Maiden in Love fell onto her knees, looking very hurt and helpless.

"I activate Maiden in Love's Monster Effect!" said Rei. "As long as she's in Attack mode, she won't be destroyed in battle!"

Maiden in Love stared at Elemental Hero Avian with her big, gray eyes. Her eyes glistened as tears began to weld up in them. The hurt and helpless look that Maiden in Love made was enough to make any person's heart throb in pain…which is what it did to Jaden…

…and Avian.

Winged Kuriboh appeared right next to Jaden, having been dormant for nearly the whole day. He was quite oblivious to what had gone on today, but was very well aware what was happening now. The background behind him and Jaden turned into a mixture of pink and yellow colors with sparkling lights, clear bubbles, and a flowery field of flowers.

Jaden diverted her eyes on Winged Kuriboh, somewhat surprised to see him there.

"_Winged Kuriboh?"_ she thought. _"Where have _you_ been all day?"_

Winged Kuriboh gave a somewhat awkward reply involving him, sleeping.

"_You were sleeping?"_ thought Jaden.

Winged Kuriboh ignored Jaden as he directed his partner's attention onto the scene before them.

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Jaden diverted her gaze in the direction Winged Kuriboh pointed at. She sweat dropped as she stared at Avian, who was standing right by Maiden in Love. He looked rather guilty with what he had done to Maiden in Love as he knelt down, trying his best to prevent her from crying. Elemental Hero Avian was a sucker for crying girls, not because he was easily swayed by a girl, but because he _hated_ when he had to see a girl. It made him feel so useless and as a Hero, he was supposed to keep the peace and prevent situations like this. The look on Maiden in Love's face made Avian feel as if someone had punched him in the gut…

…and reminded him of how Jaden used to be after their first duel against Kouyou, the one in which Kouyou fell into a coma afterwards. Out of all the cards Jaden had a choice of using, she chose him and the rest of the Elemental Heroes to build up her deck. He knew that Kouyou had an influence on her, but the way she looked at him as the first card she had took out of one of the many card packs she had bought…left an impression of Avian that he could never forget.

"_Ah, Elemental Hero Avian!"_ a young voice echoed. _"How cool!"_

That was what Jaden first said to Avian…moving on…

"_**M-Milady…are you alright?"**_ Avian asked Maiden in Love.

Maiden in Love looked at Avian and turned away shyly. A very faint blush tinged Avian's cheeks.

Jaden's jaw literally dropped in shock when she saw the barely visible blush on Avian's face.

"Ehhhh?" she exclaimed. "What the—?"

Jaden never thought Avian was capable of blushing, despite the many times he did when she showed him affection and such. The first time Jaden finally saw, or rather, noticed Avian blush is the first time he wasn't blushing because of _her_.

For that very reason, Winged Kuriboh kept his eyes closed, somewhat disappointed in Avian.

"Pull yourself together, Avian!" exclaimed Jaden. "Falling in love with a girl isn't like a Hero!"

Unbeknownst to Jaden, she (and possibly Rei) was the only one who had seen that. Shou stared at Jaden, perplexed as to why she was acting like that.

"There's something off about Aniki…" said Shou.

Hayato was somewhat perplexed, but knew that Jaden wasn't like others.

"_I know it…"_ thought Hayato. _"Jaden has to be seeing something that we can't…"_

Jaden was still shocked about Avian's sudden infatuation with Maiden in Love…after all these years, he's never shown any interest in the female gender…and now this? This just confused Jaden to no end! And not to mention, she felt rather…odd…what happened to the Hero she grew to admire and depend on?

"Avian…just what's happened to you?" Jaden said, her voice almost cracking. "I thought we've been through this after my Pokémon fell for _that_ cow!"

Hayato sweat dropped at Jaden's outburst, having gotten the reference.

"_Yellow has issues with Akane…" _thought Hayato. _"Or does Yellow refer to her as Whitney?"_ (15)

Winged Kuriboh just sweat dropped as he yet to figure out the whole buildup of the characters from Jaden's game. To put it in simple terms, Winged Kuriboh didn't know what Jaden meant by, "that cow". All he knew is that a redhead named, 'Silver', is a jerk to Kotone after seeing him _push_ her away out of his way. Moving on…

"Kuri kuri!" said Winged Kuriboh.

Rei just smiled in satisfaction.

"It's another Monster Effect!" Rei said as she held up her index finger before pointing it at Avian. "The opposing monster that attacked the Maiden in Love has one Maiden Counter placed on it!"

The Maiden in Love smiled, having just gotten up. She cupped her hands right in front of her chest and a pink heart began to form. She then threw the pink heart at Avian, smacking him in the head. It didn't hurt, but something within Avian…felt different.

"M-Maiden Counter?" questioned Jaden.

Avian looked questioningly at the beating pink heart that resided on his left breast, right where his literal heart should be. He had already snapped out of it when Jaden referred to "that cow" and remembered the promise she made him make.

"_Don't fall recklessly in love like Wani-Wani!"_ a young Jaden's voice echoed in his mind. (16)

Ah, Wani-Wani…that strange, crocodile thing Jaden called a friend…ah, memories…

"It's my turn," Rei said, reaching for her deck. "Draw!"

Rei drew a card from her deck and looked at it and her hand. "From my hand, I activate the Equip Magic, Cupid Kiss!"

A light shone brightly under the Maiden in Love as bubbles began to float into the air. The Maiden in Love had her eyes closed as a small cherub with blonde hair and a pink-heart tipped arrow in his hand flew up to her face. The little cherub smiled at the Maiden in Love and lightly kissed her on the cheek with a, "Chu~!" and giggled afterwards. The Maiden in Love opened her eyes and smiled at the cherub.

"I'm battling!" Rei exclaimed as she held up her fist. "Use your true feelings!"

A faint red blush tinged Jaden's cheeks as she watched the scene before her, the sparkling background returning yet again. The Maiden in Love was running towards Elemental Hero Avian in a manner that made her seem even more adorable. She smiled at Avian, her eyes sparkling with joy, leaving the Elemental Hero very confused.

"_**Avian-san!"**_ she called out. _**"Please accept my true feelings!"**_

Jaden stared agape at the Maiden in Love. _"Dear Ra, she's confessing!"_

Avian looked back at Jaden with a look that said, "What do I do?"

Jaden shrugged as she and Avian never did go over confessions. A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Avian's face as he looked back at the Maiden in Love. She was about to throw herself into Avian…

…but Avian stepped to the side, causing the Maiden in Love to fall face-first onto the ground. Avian just stared at the Maiden in Love as she quickly got on her knees and looked at the Elemental Hero with a very hurt expression.

"_**H-How cruel!"**_ she exclaimed, bringing her hands to her eyes as she began to cry. _**"You're so cruel!"**_

Avian immediately felt the effects of guilt when he saw the Maiden in Love begin to cry. He knelt down by her side and tried to comfort her, or whatever, as long as she stopped crying!

"_**I-I'm sorry!"**_ Avian apologized. _**"I didn't mean…"**_

The Maiden in Love stopped crying as she looked at Avian, a smile forming on her lips as she placed her index and middle finger over them. She moved them away, sending a small, pink heart at Avian as she blew him a kiss.

"_**Chu~!"**_ she said.

The pink heart burst over Avian's face, the expression on his face immediately changing as something within him made him feel…strange. His heart began to beat faster as he stared into the Maiden in Love's eyes. The Maiden in Love gave a cutesy laugh, causing Avian to blush.

"W-What the…" said Jaden.

Avian held the Maiden in Love's hand, having just helped her off the ground. He smiled as he stared into her eyes. The Maiden in Love just looked at him innocently.

"_**You'll listen to what I say, won't you?"**_ asked the Maiden in Love.

"_**Of course!"**_ replied Avian.

The Maiden in love smiled and innocently asked, _**"Then, will you attack Jaden?"**_

Avian looked at Jaden with a serious expression.

"_**Of course!"**_ said Avian. _**"If it's for your sake, I can!"**_

Never in her life had Jaden ever felt more betrayed than now as Avian sent a strong gust of wind at her. She and Winged Kuriboh let out an exclamation once the wind reached them.

"Shit…" swore Jaden. "Avian, I can't believe you're so madly in love with a _girl_! Besides, aren't you a Hero? Don't you remember what happened to Wani-Wani?"

Elemental Hero Avian looked at Jaden perplexed, his feelings for the Maiden in Love clouding his conscience and thoughts. _**"Who?"**_

Jaden's eyes widened as she stared at Avian in shock. At that moment, something within her…broke. Never had Jaden felt so hurt to see someone leave her for someone else. What's more, the fact Avian forgot about Wani-Wani meant that he forgot about their promise…

"You forgot the Wani-Wani promise…" said Jaden.

* * *

Meanwhile at the top of the cliff,

Shou was very much confused with Jaden's random comments and reactions.

"He's muttering again…" said Shou.

Ignoring Shou, Hayato was now very sure about his earlier assumption.

"I knew it…he's seeing something…" thought Hayato.

* * *

Back with Jaden and Rei,

Jaden stared at Avian, who was now on Rei's side of the field, right next to the Maiden in Love. A rosy pink aura radiated from Avian as he seemed to glare at Jaden.

"I…feel betrayed…" said Jaden. "What just happened?"

"If the Maiden in Love attacks the monster with a Maiden Counter and ends up being dealt damage instead…" explained Rei. "…the Equip Magic, Cupid Kiss, activates, and is able to control that monster."

The Maiden in Love placed her hand on Avian's arm, earning his attention. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

Rei:

LP

2800

Jaden:

LP

3000

A card appeared on Rei's side of the field moments after the life points score was shown.

"My turn's over," said Rei.

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she reached for her deck.

"Tch, she's like the living embodiment of that cow…" said Jaden. "Only she's pretty, not cute…"

Jaden looked at the card she just finished drawing and perked up a bit. She had just drawn Elemental Hero Sparkman. Jaden diverted her gaze back on Avian and Maiden in Love.

"_If I don't attack that Maiden in Love, my monsters won't be taken away,"_ thought Jaden. _"Maybe Sparkman can knock some sense into Avian…"_

Nodding, Jaden held out Elemental Hero Sparkman's card as she summoned him onto the field. Sparkman appeared on the field, crackling blue electricity crackling off his body.

ATK 1600

"Sorry, Avian, but I'll be attacking you!" said Jaden. _"Please don't take this the wrong way…"_

Avian showed no reaction to this.

"Okay, you asked for it!" Jaden said, pointing at Avian afterwards. "Sparkman! Use your Spark Flash on Avian and knock some sense into him! The guy fell for a Whitney!"

Sparkman immediately got the reference and took no time to hesitate as he began to charge up an electrical attack. Sparkman sent a ball of blue electricity at Avian, hoping to knock some sense into the love-struck Hero. Just before the attack made contact with Avian, Rei intervened.

"I activate the Trap card, Defense Maiden!" said Rei.

The face-down card on Rei's side of the field flipped over, revealing the Trap card. The Maiden in Love stood in front of Avian, her arms held out with a determined expression on her face. Avian was shocked with the Maiden in Love's actions as she was shielding him, willing to take Sparkman's attack for him…and she did! Cue yet another pained, high-pitched shriek from Maiden in Love…

"Aw, crap!" said Jaden.

Rei smiled at Jaden's reaction…she was just too fun! "Because of Defense Maiden's effect, Sparkman's attack is switched over to the Maiden in Love!"

Rei:

LP

1600

The Maiden in Love fell onto her knees after the attack. The sparkly background returned, much to Jaden's dismay.

"_Oh, god, not again…"_ thought Jaden.

Avian knelt down and placed his hand on the Maiden in Love's back, trying to comfort her from the attack she just took for him.

"_**Sparkman!"**_ Avian exclaimed, glaring at Sparkman as he held up his fist. _**"How could a Hero like you attack a defenseless maiden? For shame, Sparkman, for shame!"**_

Sparkman immediately felt the effects of guilt at that statement. He placed his hands on his head as he regretted ever making an attack.

"_**I can't believe what I've done!"**_ wailed Sparkman. _**"Milady, are you all right?"**_

The Maiden in Love looked up at Sparkman, her reflection showing up on Sparkman's 'mask'.

"_**Please, don't blame yourself,"**_ the Maiden in Love said, her eyes shimmering from the tears that weld up in her eyes. She blinked them back as she shook her head. _**"After all, fighting… is your destiny…"**_

The Maiden in Love then winked flirtatiously at Sparkman as she quickly said, _**"Right?"**_

Sparkman felt his heart beat faster within his chest at that moment. He felt…giddy.

"_**I…I'm in love!"**_ exclaimed Sparkman.

A pink heart appeared over where Sparkman's real heart should be…just like the one Avian had. Pink hearts began to literally fill the air, much to Jaden's dismay.

"Not you too…" Jaden said as she face-palmed.

"Now Sparkman has a Maiden Counter placed on him!" said Rei.

The Maiden in Love stood in between Sparkman and Avian, laughing as she stared at Jaden. Jaden was not amused…

"What's with you guys?" yelled Jaden.

Shou frowned at Jaden. "Again? Aniki, pull yourself together!"

"This has to be tough for him…" said Hayato.

"Jaden's clueless about how men and women's heart work…" said Asuka.

"No, it's not just Jaden," said Ryou.

Asuka looked at Ryou.

"History has also proven how one woman's beauty has caused entire nations to fall," Ryou continued.

Asuka smiled. "I see."

Asuka focused her attention on the duel between Jaden and Rei.

"That would explain why someone like the 'Kaiser' has met his match," she said.

Back to the duel,

Rei reached for her deck.

"It's my turn," she said, drawing a card. "Draw!"

Rei looked at the card she just drew, smiling as she knew what to do with it. She held up the card as she was ready to set it into play.

"I activate the Equip Magic, Happy Marriage!" exclaimed Rei.

A pair of bells tied with a pink ribbon appeared on the field, ringing as confetti rained down the field. The sparkly pink background returned as the Maiden in Love was now dressed in a white wedding gown with flowers decorating her hair and a veil. She was taking it _Western_-styled!

"Because of its effect, Maiden in Love's ATK goes up by as much as Avian's!" explain Rei.

The Maiden in Love held a bouquet of flowers in her hand, her gaze focused on Avian's as she giggled. Avian just smiled back at her.

ATK: Previously, 400

Now…1400!

Jaden stared at the two…_newlyweds_, and clenched her teeth. She could not take it…did Avian even get a say in the relationship?

"_Can't Avian get at least a choice in what type of wedding he wanted to have?"_ thought Jaden. _"Maybe he wanted a traditional Japanese wedding, who knows?"_

Certainly not Jaden as the Maiden in Love already went for Western and—hold that thought!

"Oh, god, it's a commitment!" exclaimed Jaden.

The Maiden in Love ran towards Sparkman in a manner that was similar to the one she did earlier.

"_**Sparkman-sama!"**_ she called out.

Sparkman had his arms crossed and his attention focused elsewhere when the Maiden in Love called out to him. He turned and watched the Maiden in Love coming towards him in a wedding gown. Just as she was about to throw herself into Sparkman (who moved slightly to the side), the Maiden in Love tripped on Sparkman's foot and fell onto the ground face-first.

Rei grimaced as she took damage from Maiden in Love's "attack".

Rei:

LP

1400

Jaden and Winged Kuriboh watched in dismay as the same turn of events began to unravel. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Winged Kuriboh's face…this was disappointing to him. Watching Jaden's Heroes fall for some girl and her cutesy antics was rather depressing.

The Maiden in Love quickly recovered and got onto her knees, her eyes glistening with unshed tears as she looked at Sparkman.

"_**Sparkman-sama…how cruel…"**_ she cried, bringing her hands to her eyes to wipe away her tears.

Sparkman knelt down to the Maiden in Love's side, hoping to stop her crying.

"_**I-I didn't mean…"**_ Sparkman said, trying to apologize.

The Maiden in Love immediately took this chance to use her current position in the situation to her advantage…like she did with Avian. She removed her hands from her eyes and looked innocently at Sparkman.

"_**Then, can I ask you to fight for me?" **_she asked Sparkman innocently.

"_**Of course!"**_ replied Sparkman.

Sparkman brought his hand to his chest as if he was pledging his services to the Maiden in Love. This did not bode well with Jaden, who stared agape at the sight in dismay.

"Oh, come on…" groaned Jaden.

The Maiden in Love clasped her hands together and looked at Sparkman endearingly. _**"Please, Sparkman-sama!"**_

Sparkman charged up an attack…that was aimed at _Jaden_! He sent out a wave of crackling blue electricity at Jaden. Jaden was hit full on and her body began to crackle with electricity and static. She screamed in pain as the simulated pain hurt like a bitch!

The Maiden in Love just smiled and directed Avian's attention on Jaden. _**"And Avian-san, too…"**_

Avian sent another powerful gust of wind at Jaden, which, combined with Sparkman's attack, increased the simulated pain by a few notches. Jaden landed on her knees moments afterwards.

Rei smiled, feeling rather confident with herself. She threw her hat up in the air, deciding she was through using it.

"A girl becomes stronger when she's in love!" Rei said as she took off the ribbon keeping her hair up. Rei's hair cascaded freely past her shoulders.

Jaden rubbed the back of her head as she remembered something Momoe once told her.

"They also tend to become beautiful when they're in love…" said Jaden. "At least, that's what Momoe told me…"

Rei heard what Jaden said, but pretended not to hear it. The blush on her cheeks said otherwise, though… "There's nothing that's impossible!"

Jaden winced as the aftershock electricity crackled over her body one last time.

Jaden:

LP

400

"As expected, even Jaden is overwhelmed by Rei," said Ryou.

Asuka smiled and looked at Ryou. "Going as far as seducing monsters in a duel is probably easy. Chasing after her first love, she's come all this way to this distant southern island."

Shou and Hayato were staring at Asuka, having heard her.

"Eh?" said Hayato.

"Was that it?" exclaimed Shou.

Asuka diverted her attention on Rei as she continued. "On the top of that, she even passed the difficult transfer exam."

Winged Kuriboh looked at Jaden, concerned. "Kuri kuri!"

Jaden got up from the ground, having learned from her past mistakes. She looked at Winged Kuriboh and smiled.

"Yeah, it was a mistake to have sent my guy Heroes after a girl…" said Jaden. "Just like it was a bad idea when I set Wani-Wani on that _cow_!"

…

"Who the hell is Wani-Wani?" exclaimed everyone (except Jaden).

"My turn!" Jaden said, reaching for her deck. "Draw!"

Jaden looked at the card she drew…it was Polymerization. She looked at her hand and spotted a certain Hero that stood out differently among the Elemental Heroes she had in her deck.

"Of course!" said Jaden. "Maybe a girl for a girl…"

Jaden picked out the card in her hand and held it out.

"I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix!" said Jaden.

Elemental Hero Burstinatrix appeared onto the field with a fiery entrance.

ATK 1200

"Burstinatrix, I'm leaving this to you!" said Jaden. "Remind them of the Wani-Wani promise and also…they fell for a Whitney!" (17)

Burstinatrix looked at Jaden and nodded firmly. The sparkly pink background appeared yet again as Burstinatrix was set into play. Avian and Sparkman looked rather shocked at the sight of Burstinatrix, whilst the Maiden in Love was just plain out confused.

"_**This is pathetic…"**_ Burstinatrix said as she kept her arms crossed. _**"To think you were deceived by a so-called maiden like that…and to top it off, you fell for a Whitney. How could you two forget the Wani-Wani promise?"**_

Sparkman and Avian were taken aback with Burstinatrix's comment. Burstinatrix was not amused…and Jaden could tell by how fiery Burstinatrix was.

"Whoa…" Jaden said, somewhat surprised with Burstinatrix's reaction. "Somehow, Burstinatrix's…more intense than she usually is…"

Jaden diverted her gaze from the field to her hand. She picked out a card from her hand and held it out.

"I activate Burst Return!" said Jaden. "I can activate this card when I have Elemental Hero Burstinatrix on the field! It returns Elemental Heroes Avian and Sparkman back to my hand!"

The pink hearts on the two heroes' chests burst, snapping them out of their love-struck trance. Realizing what he had done, Avian placed his hands on his head.

"_**What have we done?"**_ he exclaimed. _**"We broke the Wani-Wani promise! And what was I thinking? I didn't want to get married!"**_

Sparkman was in a similar situation as Avian.

"_**Falling so recklessly in love…"**_ said Sparkman. _**"I can't believe we were infatuated by love!"**_

Sparkman and Avian face-palmed simultaneously.

"_**That is not how a Hero acts!"**_ they both exclaimed. _**"Guy pact…this didn't happen, okay?"**_

Jaden was definitely rubbing off on them…

Burstinatrix scowled at the two Heroes, her emerald green eyes nearly flaring with fiery rage. _**"How about you to get back over here before I tell Terra Firma you betrayed Jaden?"**_ (18)

"_**Yes, ma'am!"**_ Sparkman and Avian exclaimed simultaneously.

The Maiden in Love was very much confused as she looked to her left and right moments after the two Elemental Heroes left her side.

"_**Ehhhh?"**_ she exclaimed.

Jaden smiled as she held up Sparkman and Avian's cards in her hand.

"The bond between Heroes is stronger than that so-called love over there," explained Jaden.

Rei clenched her teeth. "Tch…"

"Next, I'll activate Polymerization!" Jaden said, placing the card in one of the slots.

Avian appeared next to Burstinatrix's side, very much reformed from his experience with love. Never again will he break the Wani-Wani promise…it betrayed Jaden…

"I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" said Jaden.

Just before the Polymerization vortex fused the two Heroes, Avian looked back at Jaden and said, _**"I'm sorry."**_

Jaden blinked a few times, slightly confused with Avian's apology. Shaking her head, Jaden diverted her gaze on the fusion vortex that merged Avian and Burstinatrix together, to form Elemental Hero Flame Wingman.

ATK 2100

"Go!" Jaden exclaimed, directing Flame Wingman at the Maiden in Love. "Flame Shoot!"

Flame Wingman held up his right hand and aimed it at the Maiden in Love. A fiery blast shot out of Flame Wingman's hand and hit the Maiden in Love head on, setting her ablaze. The Maiden in Love shrieked out in both fear and pain before being destroyed.

By now, Shou, Hayato, Asuka, and Ryou had made their way to the seaside pathway where Jaden and Rei were. They made it just in time to see the finishing attack deplete the rest of Rei's life points as the fire set her ablaze. Once the fired had ceased, Rei fell onto her knees, panting.

Rei:

LP

0

Jaden smiled as she had her hands on her hips. She looked at Winged Kuriboh, who closed his eyes and said, "Kuri kuri~!"

Jaden winked at Rei as she did her signature pose.

"Gotcha!" said Jaden. "Rei, that was an interesting duel!"

Rei looked up at Jaden, feeling rather different about the female Osiris Red. She wasn't like any other girls Rei knew…in fact, she was very different…in a good way. And since she lost…

"Jaden, I…" said Rei.

Jaden smiled at Rei and held up her hand. "Whoa, stop what you're saying…How about you tell that guy behind you, who was here watching the entire time?"

Rei blinked and looked back and lo and behold, there was Ryou, standing by Asuka, Shou, and Hayato. Asuka looked at Ryou with a smile on her face.

"You're up," said Asuka. "Go easy on her."

Ryou looked questioningly at Asuka. So far, he had been oblivious to Rei's feelings and only recently figured them out when Asuka explained it.

"This is a man's responsibility, right?" asked Asuka.

Ryou closed his eyes and nodded once. Rei immediately got off the ground and looked at Ryou, a rosy blush tingeing her cheeks.

"Ryou-san!" she said.

Ryou opened his eyes and looked at Rei, somewhat perplexed. Asuka just smiled and laughed a bit, very amused with having to see Ryou deal with something like this. Rei clasped her hands together as she looked endearingly at Ryou. Jaden just watched Rei and smiled as she had her hands behind her back.

"_Rei looks beautiful,"_ thought Jaden. (19)

"I'm sorry…" said Rei. "I'm not one who snuck into your dorm this afternoon…Jaden just woke up…she's done so much for me just to keep me from being discovered…"

Rei turned to Jaden and nodded her head.

"Jaden…thank you so much, again," said Rei. "For everything…"

Jaden closed her eyes and smiled at Rei. Rei smiled and looked back at Ryou, who nodded. He understood, now.

"I know," said Ryou.

Rei had her hand on her chin, her eyes focused on the ground to avoid having direct eye contact with Ryou.

"Ever since you went on to the Duel Academy, Ryou-san…" said Rei. "I wanted to see you and I wanted to be here…And I finally came this far…"

Hayato and Shou smiled as Rei…it was rather mature of her right now, to say things like that.

"I lost to Jaden in that duel, but I won't lose my feelings for you, Ryou-san, to anyone!" said Rei. Rei smiled widely and held out her arms. "Please accept the true feelings of a maiden!"

A silhouette of the Maiden in Love appeared behind Rei, making her almost appear like a living incarnate of her Duel Monster. This had Ryou very much confused as to what he should do…every other girl who had confessed to him was never like this…so…innocent, like Rei. It was a bit too much for him…and Jaden knew it! Dammit! She was even grinning!

"C'mon, even the Kaiser's overwhelmed?" Jaden teased, rubbing the back of her head afterwards as she looked at Rei. "At any rate, that's an amazing power. It was just like the duel!"

Rei looked strangely at Jaden. Jaden looked rather oblivious to the truth, but Rei didn't mind much…she kinda found it…cute.

"It's not from the duel…" said Rei.

"I see…" said Asuka.

Rei turned to Asuka, who was smiling at her.

"Your wholehearted feelings are lovely," said Asuka. "But, like you just said…Unlike with those Heroes in the duel, a real woman wouldn't use things like winks or kisses."

Jaden diverted her eyes to the side as she muttered, "Or pull a Whitney on you…"

"Jaden, that was unneeded," said Asuka.

Jaden just rubbed the back of her head. "Tch…"

"I wonder if dueling and love both bear and tie feelings together from the very beginning," said Asuka (?)

Rei looked at Asuka and scowled at her.

"Oi, what are you to Ryou-san?" exclaimed Rei. "You're not my rival, are you?"

Asuka looked nervously at Rei, who was currently glaring at her…and was she _growling_ at her?

"T-That's not it…" said Asuka.

Jaden looked at Asuka and Rei with a very clueless expression on her face.

"Rei, I'm flattered by how you feel, but…" said Ryou.

Rei snapped out of her fit of anger against Asuka and pushed her to the side as she got closer to Ryou.

"Ryou-san!" she exclaimed, looking endearingly at the Third-Year.

Asuka sweat dropped as she looked at Jaden. Ryou looked at Rei and sighed…here goes another rejection…

"Right now, I'm devoted to dueling," said Ryou.

Rei frowned a bit. "Ryou-san…"

Ryou reached into his pocket and pulled out something. He grabbed Rei's hand and then placed the object he just took out of his pocket…Rei's hairclip. Rei looked at the hairclip in her hand and looked back at Ryou. She looked rather hurt…but somewhat pleased.

"_I finally told him how I felt…"_ thought Rei.

It was like a load off her shoulders…Rei felt free.

"Rei, go back to your hometown," said Ryou.

Jaden blinked and glared at Ryou. "You don't have to go that far! Even though she's registered as male student right now, she can stay with me while we get that fixed!"

Rei blinked and looked at Jaden, feeling rather grateful for what the girl had to offer. It was as if Jaden didn't want her to leave…what was this feeling?

"_My heart…"_ thought Rei. _"Is it…?"_

_Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Her heart was beating faster and she felt…giddy. Rei blinked a few times and smiled as she threw herself at Jaden, wrapping her arms around the girl's waist.

"Onee-sama!" Rei exclaimed, a blush tingeing her cheeks. (20)

Jaden looked perplexed at Rei as the navy-haired girl hugged her. Hayato, Shou, Asuka, and Ryou were very much surprised with Rei's sudden change in emotion.

"Huh?" said Jaden.

Ryou shook his head and shrugged off his confusion. "Rei can't stay here."

Jaden arched her brow at Ryou. "Why not…?"

Jaden blinked a few times as she noticed that she wasn't being embraced anymore, but…groped? Jaden looked down to see that it was Rei who was grabbing her chest. The look on her face was one of confusion.

"Onee-sama is smaller than me," said Rei.

Jaden's face turned red at that statement, as did Ryou, but he turned away, trying to hide the small blush on his cheeks. (21) That marked the _first_ time Ryou had _ever_ blushed at a girl…but it was reasonable, seeing as he just saw a girl getting groped by another girl…

"_I guess that makes me straight…"_ thought Ryou. _"As Taniguchi would put it…"_

But what did it matter anymore? Ryou didn't care about his orientation…he was rather embarrassed by his reaction. Shou and Hayato were also blushing, Asuka…she just looked way too confused to even _say_ anything.

Once Ryou cooled down, he cleared his throat, snapping everyone out of either his or her confusion or flustered state.

"The reason why Rei can't stay here…" said Ryou. "Rei is still a fifth-grader in elementary school."

The color drained from Jaden as she turned white after hearing what Ryou just said. Hayato and Shou let out a loud exclamation at this.

"Ehhhh?" they both exclaimed.

Rei stopped groping Jaden's chest and clasped her hands over her hairclip as she laughed awkwardly. A pink background appeared behind Rei as characters passed by, forming the word "Elementary School Fifth Grader".

Jaden, having gotten over her shock, looked at Rei, wide-eyed. She placed her hands on her head as she just realized something rather depressing.

"Man, what is this?" Jaden exclaimed as she flailed. "So I ended up fighting an elementary school student?"

Jaden fell onto her knees despondently and let out a sigh in dismay. She stiffened a bit as Rei threw herself on Jaden, wrapping her arms around her neck. Jaden opened one eye at Rei, whom playfully stuck out her tongue at Jaden.

"Sorry!" said Rei.

Jaden sweat dropped as Rei began to nuzzle against her affectionately. "Oi…"

Rei blinked and separated herself from Jaden as she decided to do something for her senpai. Jaden blinked owlishly as Rei held out her (Rei's) right hand, extending her index and middle finger in a quick salute as she winked at Jaden.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Rei. "That was a fun duel!"

Jaden fell back anime-style, having just seen Rei perform her signature pose with such ease and perfection…unlike a _certain_ Ra Yellow (A/N Meanwhile at the Ra Yellow Dorms, Kagurazaka sneezed for some unknown reason). Asuka laughed a bit at this whilst Shou just rubbed the back of his head. Hayato and Ryou just sighed and looked at each other.

"You think that this marks the beginning of a Senpai-Kouhai relationship?" asked Hayato.

"Looks like it," said Ryou. (22)

"Gah…at least you did it right," Jaden said, rolling onto her back.

Jaden thought about it for a few seconds and snorted, bursting into laughter afterwards.

"This is great!" exclaimed Jaden. "This is why duels are fun!"

Rei stared at Jaden and laughed along with her before tackling the gender-mistaken Osiris Red.

"Onee-sama!" exclaimed Rei.

Jaden yelped as Rei landed right on her stomach. "Dammit, Rei, stop jumping me!"

Rei just laughed as she started to hug Jaden yet again. Rei really _liked_ her Onee-sama!

The next day,

At the Duel Academy docks, a ship had just started to reel in its anchor, about ready to set sail. Jaden, Ryou, Shou, Hayato, and Asuka were all waving at a certain passenger on the ship from the docks. Looking down at them from the ship, was Rei.

"Bye-bye!" exclaimed Rei.

Rei was now wearing a lacey-white dress with a simple pink sweater, clothes suited for her gender. They were a gift from Jaden and by gift, I mean a way to get rid of some girly dress. Rei and Jaden had spent the night packing for tomorrow morning when the ship would arrive to take Rei back home. It was during that time, Daitokuji came to drop off a gift from Jaden's father. All Jaden had to do was take one look at the dress before she stuck out her tongue at it.

And so the gift from her father went to Rei, who would forever treasure the garment…hell! She even wore it today to show off her gratitude towards Jaden! Rei even tied up her hair in a ponytail with the ribbon Jaden gave her the other day, the hairclip keeping the ribbon's tie in place.

"Next year, once I graduate from elementary school, I'll take the test again and study over here!" exclaimed Rei.

Jaden laughed at Rei's statement and looked at Ryou, whom had his arms crossed. Ryou wasn't saying anything and for that, Jaden found it quite mean…but very like him to do that.

"Heartless?" said Jaden.

"I won't be here by then, though," Ryou replied. "And even if I do somehow stay here, I don't think she's interested in me anymore…"

Jaden blinked owlishly as she looked at Ryou, somewhat clueless.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Jaden.

Hayato and Shou shook their heads at their female roommate's density whilst Asuka just laughed. Jaden diverted her gaze back on Rei, who was still waving at them.

"Wait for me…" she exclaimed. "…Jaden-nee-sama!"

Jaden sweat dropped as realization suddenly hit her…hard. Rei's voice echoed in her head, shouting, "Jaden-nee-sama!"

Jaden looked agape at her friends, shocked and very much confused. "W-Why's it me?"

Asuka smiled at Jaden as she explained. "I'm sure she's head over heels because of your duel and the way you were protective of her."

Jaden stared wide-eyed at Asuka as the dark-blonde covered her mouth to laugh. Jaden was still confused! "But she's referring to me as 'Onee-sama'!"

Ryou closed his eyes and shook his head. "Jaden, you're missing the real meaning of the title from her. She refers to you as her highly respected elder sister and while you may not see yourself as one, in Rei's eyes…she sees you as a princess."

Hayato smirked at Ryou's explanation. "That's a shock…Jaden…a princess? Pfft…"

Jaden scowled at Hayato. "Shut it, Falkner!"

"Make me, Yellow," said Hayato.

Jaden growled at Hayato and blinked when Ryou patted her on the head.

"I'll leave the rest to you," Ryou said, turning around afterwards as he began to walk away.

Jaden clenched her teeth as she diverted her gaze back on Rei.

"How do I get myself into these things…?" thought Jaden.

Hayato and Shou began to walk away from Jaden as well, deciding that they've finished saying their goodbyes and that their job was done.

"Well, Aniki, we'll go on ahead," said Shou.

Hayato nodded as he added, "You'll have to see her off…_Onee-sama_."

Jaden resisted the urge to deck Hayato for that name. Asuka nodded in agreement with Hayato and turned as she followed after Ryou, Shou, and Hayato.

"Keep waving at her until you can't see the ship anymore!" said Asuka.

Jaden had no comment for that as she continued to watch Rei waved at her.

"Wait for me!" Rei called out. "I'll be back, Jaden-nee-sama!"

A small bead of sweat rolled down the side of Jaden's face as she waved back at Rei tentatively.

"Man…I don't…" said Jaden. "No way…"

Jaden was very much in denial that she now had female suitor. She was okay with having her own kouhai looking up to her as a senpai or an Imouto-chan looking up to Jaden as an older sister figure in a similar manner Shou was with Jaden when he referred to her as 'Aniki'. But this?

"What have I gotten myself into…?" muttered Jaden.

This was definitely not the last time she'll be seeing Rei…Rei already promised she'll be back next year. There was nothing left for Jaden to do anything about that except wait.

...

...

* * *

A/N End of chapter! *dodges stuff thrown at from angry readers* Gah! Dear god, I know it's been five months since I haven't updated, but hey! It takes TIME to think these chapters through! DX You have any idea how hard it was to put Rei's role in this story into play? Well, I already had her role thought out, but the way she fit in was what I was having trouble with!

So all in all, it took me…a year, which by the way! *throws confetti into the air* It's been a year since this story has been published! ^^

Ironically, my nose started bleeding like it did when I first published the story when I was halfway done with it. XD And if you must know…I'm NOT dead! Didn't the updates from my stories _Our Last Pact _and _The Advent of Misadventures_ note that I was still alive? Great, now I'm thinking of Portal, which I finally watched a walkthrough of it just last week. Awesome game, by the way! ^^

And if you must know…while it took me four fricken' months to reach fifteen pages, it took me probably up to _three_ days to type up THIRTY pages, I kid you not! This chapter...over forty-five pages _long_! You better be happy with it because I've been procrastinating with the work I got for this program I'm in, the Academic Decathlon, and I still haven't finished the work I'm supposed to finish! DX I have to study and such! Anyways, I've gotten side-tracked by my three-day trip to Disneyland (best…three days…EVER!) and got back into the Kingdom Hearts fandom before switching back to Pokémon. After posting chapter five to Our Last Pact, I was going to move onto working on this chapter, but it was seriously taking me long to even write anything and then…_Tiger & Bunny_ happened. _Tiger & Bunny_ is the shit! I am seriously in LOVE with that anime and have been (and still am) obsessing over it~!

Now before you start blaming the anime for my lateness…you should actually be _thanking_ it. _Tiger & Bunny_ is about _superheroes_…now can anyone see why I've had _GX _on the mind as I watched it? Good! BTW, you guys should really check out _Tiger & Bunny_! Don't let the name fool you at _all_…it is one hell of a good anime that came out this year! There are currently fourteen episodes as of last Saturday and it's still ongoing. Watch it on Hulu! Hulu is your friend for this anime! Moving on from my obsession of this anime!

Thanks to _Tiger & Bunny_, I got my muse back and made this magnificently long chapter! You have any idea why I'm happy about it? I have yet to make any proofing errors that were unintentionally made. And also, you guys might want to know this…

My laptop crapped out on me…the hard drive is broken and the laptop I'm currently using is my brother's. Yeah, my oldest brother bought it off my second oldest brother, but gave it to me…which I am _very_ thankful of! You guys are _very_ lucky I always keep my stories on a flash drive, no _matter_ what. I'm now up to forty-six pages thanks to this A/N and I've decided not to do the shout outs for the reviewers again…I kinda lost track on who was reviewer #110 and 120 and I am too lazy to check it out! DX Sorry!

Now for the little notes!

(1) I was really pissed off when I wrote that down and reason as to why I even mentioned that…around the time I wrote this chapter, I got told that I had to go on a diet after a physical. What pisses me off is that I don't _look_ fat…I'm just overweight. Okay, that's enough about my life! DX

(2) This was placed and is mentioned throughout the chapter because I decided to up Jaden's birthday month. Jaden feels like someone who was born in late summer/early fall.

(3) Remember these guys are speaking Japanese, but we see it as English because, as you can see, this story is written in English! DX Anyways, reason for the note is because I brought up the subject about what pronouns Jaden uses to refer to herself.

Jaden refers to herself with the masculine pronoun, "boku", which is used mainly by, but is not exclusive to, males since tomboys have been known to use that pronoun. However, Jaden has also been referring to herself as, "ore", up to the point where her gender keeps getting mistaken for male to those who know her. "Ore" is the pronoun Judai Yuki (in the original Japanese anime) refers to himself. That pronoun is exclusively used by the male gender as it is a one up from "boku", as far as I know from TV tropes and such. Moving on…

(4) If you're wondering how that uniform looks like, go to my profile and there's a link on my page involving that uniform. The only difference between my description of the uniform and the picture is that mine is blue.

(5) Note placed here because I literally forgot what I was going have Jaden say.

(6) Holy crap! Mori can actually crack a joke!

(7) **The Legendary Princess Carry**…reason for the bold and underline is for emphasis because it was _Ryou_ who performed the carry on Jaden! Ironically, I ended up seeing this type of carry twice watching _Tiger & Bunny_! XD You have to watch it to get what I'm trying to say!

(8) Funny thing about that…I actually know how to break into my own house (sometimes we locked out and desperate times call for desperate measures) and my second-oldest brother's house (he lives next door and provides my Internet). While my second-oldest brother disapproves of this…he ends up coming to me when dumbass him _forgets_ his keys inside the house and **locks** himself out. XD Just a few years ago, I finally figured out how to get past the top lock. It's been a while since I broke into my brother's house now that my oldest brother _finally_ made us another key for my second-oldest brother's house (we lost the other one), so yeah…hey! I only break into my brother's house to steal food and check what's up with the Internet connection and the router! DX

(9) This is how I managed to get the scene between Jaden and Rei out without making it inconsistent to how long it was and how long it actually _is_ to open a door. Ryou purposely opened the door slowly and I used that to my advantage! :D

(10) Reference to _Final Fantasy VII_ during the confrontation with Don Corneo during the Wall Market incident involving Tifa, Aerith, and Cloud (and cross-dressing) threatening to decimate Corneo's…ahem, 'Little Corneos'…XD I just made another reference to a _Final Fantasy VII_ web comic on Deviantart called _Final Fantasy VII: The Sevening_…another reason why it took me a while to get to this chapter. It is just SO damn hilarious and addicting! Check it out if you want! It's on Obstinate Melon's Deviantart account! Anyways, you'll get the reference if you had played the game, watched a walkthrough, and if you read the comic…you'll _definitely_ get the reference.

By the way, scary Ryou is scary, yo! Especially when he's downright serious! XD

(11) Pointed out by the fact that I may have actually made Ryou OOC in this chapter involving that moment. Pointed out by Jaden for humor and to remind you that if anyone is OOC…it's for humor. As for the second part…the way Ryou and Jaden were positioned…look up episode eight of Ouran High School Host Club. The moment with Kyouya and Haruhi might explain a lot to what Jaden meant by awkward…

(12) This whole moment is what happens when you're up past 10 PM and have just finished watching episode eight of Ouran High School Host Club…only difference is that unlike Kyouya, Ryou had _no_ intentions **whatsoever** to rape Jaden…no, no, **no**. Get it out of your heads, Ryou is not capable of doing that if he shows **no** interest to the male and female gender and respects the person. Yeah…it's just not like Ryou to do that, especially since Jaden is Shou's Aniki and the last thing he needs is for Shou to _hate_ him.

(13) This whole chapter is like a fricken' reference to _Hana-Kimi_, with the way Rei transferred to a school to get closer to the person she loves and admires. Keep in mind, I only know of _Hana-Kimi _through **summary**. I have not even read as much two to three chapters, so **don't** spoil it for me and **don't** accuse me of using it as the basis of this chapter! I don't do things like that unless I get a good grip on the happenings of a series. Moving on…

(14) Shou was pouting when he said that in the _episode_, so I didn't _make_ him pout.

(15) Whitney's Japanese name is Akane and reason why Jaden even knows of the English names…well, let's just say she was bored one day and decided to look up the English version of _Pocket Monsters_. That is my current explanation and I shall stick to it.

(16) Back when Jaden was a kid, sometime after making her deck, Jaden picked the water-type Starter Pokémon for _Pokémon Silver_ (this was before _Crystal_, the game where you could finally choose your own gender and when the question, "Are you a boy or a girl?" first popped up). The Pokémon was the water-type Johto Starter Pokémon Waninoko, AKA, Totodile. The name Wani-Wani is derived from _Wani_noko, which is Totodile's Japanese name. The anime counterpart for Kris (replaced with Lyra in the remakes of _Silver_ and _Gold_ as the female Trainer, but shares the similar hairstyle) is a Trainer named Marina, who chose Totodile as her Starter, which she named Wani-Wani. Since gender was introduced in Generation II (as well as the Daycares), Jaden found out the hard way about that addition when Wani-Wani fell for Attract, which is an attack that only works on Pokémon of the _opposite_ gender. Wani-Wani was male and Miltank is female (only)…you do the math.

(17) By now, seeing as I have used that phrase at least twice by now and keep using it…I should consider making that my catchphrase when a male character recklessly falls for someone of the opposite gender (female) in which infatuation clouds the mind and such and affects the person involved with the love-struck male character…It only works when a guy falls for it when used by a girl because Whitney is only able to pull off the move successfully on Pokémon on the male gender since her Miltank IS female (and Miltank are of a female only species) As of 7-5-11, I call ownership of the definitions for the phrases "You/he fell for a Whitney!" and "She pulled a Whitney on me/him!". Anyone wishing to use it in their stories _better_ make a reference to this story…that's all I'm asking for, it's not much. I kinda created this phrase on a whim and gave it a definition just recently…yeah.

(18) **Hestic** is to thank for that line! Using the line from the dub and Terra Firma's status among the Elemental Heroes in Jaden's deck, which by the way, he is the leader of the Elemental Heroes… If Terra Firma gets told something like that (Sparkman and Avian's encounter with the Maiden in Love), by the end of the hour, everyone in the deck will know _all_ about it. Originally, **Hestic**'s line involved Burstinatrix saying, "How about you to get back over here before I tell Terra Firma you made Jaden cry?", but I changed that since Jaden didn't exactly cry during the duel…she was too angry and confused to cry, but she was upset…but not enough to make her cry, just…angry.

(19) Remember how Jaden got told by Momoe that "A girl looks beautiful when she's in love"? Well, Rei was in love and Jaden just so happened to notice that Rei looked beautiful. This is a reference to _Karakuri Odette_, which is a cute shoujo manga about a girl, who is a robot, attending school, wishing to know what is the difference between her and humans. It's a really good manga by Julietta Suzuki, who is the creator of _Kamisama Hajimemashita_, or _Kamisama Kiss_, as it is known via English _Shojo Beat_ title as of the near end of December of last year. Moving on…

(20) That honorific…**dat** honorific…if you must know, I am using a specific TV tropes clarification of the use "Onee-sama" in this story. The specific classification of the term "Onee-sama" I'm using refers to the "Onee-sama" appropriated by the _yuri_ fandom ( I _did_ say that I was okay with both shounen-ai _and_ shoujo-ai, which is also known as yaoi _and_ yuri) involving a particular brand of the Senpai Kouhai relationship (we'll get to that note in a bit). It is part of the yuri-genre on TV tropes and considering how much I've looked into this while preparing for Rei's role…I'm sticking to that use of "Onee-sama".

(21) **One**. _Fucking_. Year…I waited a _whole_ year to get to that moment once I got Rei's role down… One year, baby!

(22) The Senpai Kouhai relationship refers to the relationship between an upperclassman, the Senpai, and the underclassman, the Kouhai. Jaden is Rei's Senpai (and the Senpai of the relationship), already in high school (the Japanese school system marks High School as being grade _ten_ to _twelve_ because ninth grade is still classified as Middle School, unlike here, in America, where Middle School starts at seventh and ends at grade _eight_) and at least four years older than her (Rei is eleven in the _original_ Japanese version…the age in which _4kids_ **thoroughly** screwed up by lowering it down to _eight_).

Rei is Jaden's Kouhai (and Kouhai of the relationship) as she is still in Elementary School, needing one more year (her sixth grade year) before she enters Middle School as a seventh grader. Rei refers to her senpai as "Onee-sama" because she sees her as a princess (in her eyes and this term can be used for that as well) as well as a highly respected older sister figure.

Okay, now that I'm done with that…I'm up to forty-eight pages, now! This is officially my longest chapter as of yet and the thing about the bathhouse incident involving Jaden and Rei…Long hair does **nothing**! DX Seriously! About the majority of the bishounen (pretty boy) characters in anime/manga and video games have long hair. I'm looking at you, Sephiroth! *shakes fist at psycho bastard*

A lot of you should know by now that long hair really does nothing, as I said before, but it's for emphasis! Jaden brought up the highlight of that and wasn't aware that Rei was female until she and her had their encounter in the bathhouse. As for Rei referring to Jaden as a pervert…it's actually quite possible that a man may be wearing women's undergarments for some perverted reason that might make them cross-dressers or Okama (Japanese slang term for homosexual or transvestite…don't question me and my knowledge of these terms! DX). This was done intentionally for Rei to be on the same terms as Jaden when it came to thinking the other was male. And as for the f-bombs…it's rated 'T' and it's taken me up to twenty chapters before I finally said some and I only done it twice…sheesh! It's been a year already! It's a bit of a sign that the language is gonna be a tad bit inconsistent to rating…yeah…don't flame meh! DX

This chapter also marks the first time Jaden finally _talked_ about her bullying experience as a kid and even brought in some continuity with that involving Tadao…yes! I made her seven, shut up! DX Blame the fact that I already confirmed her age as eight when she was up against Kouyou in a duel…I'd say year had passed sometime after they first met, so there! By the way, if you must know, even after the incident involving Jaden getting her leg broken by Tadao…she was used occasionally as her school's secret weapon and backup pitcher and yes, I used episode twelve to my advantage when I saw Judai as his team's pitcher.

Thus, that position actually has some explanation on Jaden's part in this story since she had experience already…her team used that to their advantage and defeated so many teams…Baseball is actually a very popular sport in Japan, look it up! I ain't kidding, just look at the anime, _Princess Nine_, for an example!

I'm at forty-nine pages now, almost fifty so I better shut up and get on with the same drill! NO FLAMES! Constructive criticism is always welcomed, reviews are just things that make me happy…like cake!

OC: The cake is a LIE!

I'm not playing Portal, dammit! Besides, I think I'm for pie…eh, better shut up before a Pie vs. Cake fights starts…I'm neutral! DX Moving on…

I'm about almost at 22,000 hits and that really shocks me since it's only been a year since I published this story…I feel so happy! :D Thanks a lot, everybody! You guys are great!

Favorite, alert, whatever! I just hope you enjoy the chapter because I worked hard on this one and will you guys quit asking me about Jaden's father? Dear god, I'm surprised no hasn't even asked about her mother! She's rarely mentioned and yet, no one asks why…just:

"Who is Jaden's father?"

Stop asking me that damn question! DX Just be patient and wait it out because sooner or later, he'll appear and your question will be answered…

Sorry about that, repetitive questions = breaking point for KD. DX Asking about Jaden's father is like asking me who I'm going to pair up Jaden! You guys ask again and I'll firmly tell you to Go Google it! Or as Luka said it, gugure kasu! DX Don't be a Gakupo!

Moving on…I am not sure when I'll get the next chapter up, especially since I have Academic Decathlon work to do that I have to finish so I can turn in. Faster I get it done, the faster I can get back to mah stories, okay?

If you understand, good…if you don't and you ask me about the next chapter, you will be snapped at. So with that warning out and everything else, done…**KD** out! XD


End file.
